The Turkish authorities detained 20 people, including 15 foreign nationals, on suspicion of having links with the Islamic State and planning a terrorist attack in Istanbul, Anadolu reports.
According to the agency, the anti-terrorism police unit conducted raids in three districts of Istanbul. The detainees, presumably, are connected with the leaders of the IS in Syria and Iraq.
Police believe that the detainees planned to commit an attack during the celebration of the New Year in the city.
After the beginning of the armed conflict involving IS in neighboring Syria and Iraq, Turkish law enforcement officers detained more than five thousand suspected of involvement in the activities of this terrorist group.
About 3 thousand 290 people from 95 countries were deported, about 38 thousand people were banned from entering Turkey. There are 780 people in custody, including 350 foreigners, some of them convicted for terrorism.
On the night of January 1, 2017, an attack on the Reina nightclub took place in Istanbul. Armed with a machine gun, a terrorist shot and killed a club policeman who guarded the club, broke into a room with more than 700 people and opened fire on them.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey, 39 people were killed, 69 were injured.
Responsibility for the attack was incurred by IS. The perpetrator of the terrorist attack, a native of Uzbekistan, Abdulkadir Masharipov, was detained on January 16 during an anti-terrorist operation in the Esenyurt district of Istanbul.
