Turkey deals heavy blow to Daesh in September

Turkish security forces arrested at least 92 Daesh suspects across Turkey in September, including senior operatives and foreign nationals, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency.

In the operations, the suspects, including Abdulhaliq Kurdi, the so-called "Sinjar military head" of the terrorist group in Iraq; his son Mehdi Kurdi, who was active in Tal-Afar for Daesh; and Eyup B. the group's so-called senior operative in Turkey's southern Adana province, were arrested by gendarmerie, police forces and border guards in September.

Also, the forces confiscated a large number of documents and digital material in the September's operation.

At least 20 members of the organization were remanded into custody following a court ruling and some were deported. The others are still being investigated.

Some operations in September

The security forces arrested 24 organization members with links to Daesh in several provinces, including Istanbul, Ankara, Black Sea province of Samsun, southeastern Adiyaman and eastern Bingol.

Documents that belong to the terror group were also seized in the operations.

Ahmed Isa, known by his code name Abu Ayub -- wounded in bomb attacks in 2015 while he was fighting along with Daesh in Syria and illegally entered into Turkey in 2017-- was arrested by the security forces at the hospital in Adana.

At least six out of seven Iraqi nationals, who were arrested in Samsun over their suspected links to Daesh, were remanded into custody.

In the central Kirsehir province, three out of six suspects over links to Daesh were remanded into custody.

A total of six Daesh suspects, who were arrested in Kocaeli, Sakarya, Kilis and Kayseri during counter-terror operations, were remanded pending trial.

Trial process

Australian Neil Chistopher Prakash's trial, who is charged in Kilis for allegedly being a senior leader of Daesh, continues.

As a part of a counter-terrorism operation into Daesh in Meram district of central Konya province in 2017, in which five terrorists were "neutralized", the trial of nine detainees out of 10 suspects is ongoing.

Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

A hearing of two suspects, including one person who was allegedly the "agriculture minister" for Daesh in central Kayseri province, was carried out.

In southern Adana province, a Syrian suspect who was allegedly a member of Daesh was sentenced to six years and three months in prison.