Turkey is a logistical center for ISIS – US report

Hossam al-Haddad

Turkish police is intensifying its operations in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities to arrest ISIS members.

This comes in the wake of a report by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, in which it described Turkey as an ISIS logistical center.

The department adds in the report that ISIS depends on its logistical centers inside Turkey for financing.

The ongoing campaign by Turkish police comes as Ankara works to avoid clashes with the new administration in the U.S. Turkish police raids ISIS members nationwide and arrests them.

The official Turkish news Agency, Anadolu, reported that Turkish police launched a raid on 27 January in 58 Turkish regions.

The campaign, it said, targeted jihadist groups. The agency noted that the campaign resulted in the arrest of 126 suspects.

Turkish police arrested in the same month 32 people suspected to be affiliated to ISIS during raids on different areas in Ankara, Istanbul and Adana.

Turkish police also rounded up a killer suspected to be affiliated to ISIS, along with 13 other people in the northwestern city of Yalova, according to the Turkish TRT channel.

It said the killer was also helped some ISIS members escape Turkey to Europe.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury said in its report that ISIS transferred money from Turkey to its branches in Iraq and Syria.