ANKARA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police detained at least 22 suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) group, local media reported on Tuesday.
Turkish authorities issued arrest warrants for 19 suspected members of the group and detained 15 of them in operations based in the western province of Izmir, the state-run TRT broadcaster reported, adding efforts to apprehend the other four suspects are ongoing.
In a separate operation in the southern province of Mersin, the police detained seven other IS suspects, according to the semi-official Anadolu Agency.
The seven suspects, who had previously been linked to armed activities, were allegedly involved in activities aligned with the ideology of the IS. They were actively recruiting people for conflict zones and facilitating the illegal border crossings of IS members, Anadolu said.
The Turkish government designated the IS a terrorist organization in 2013, blaming it for a spate of deadly attacks in the country since 2015.
