Nov 1, 2017

Since the Jan. 1 nightclub attack in Istanbul, the Turkish government has perceptibly ramped up its struggle against extreme Salafi-jihadi networks in Turkey. This struggle by Turkish intelligence and the security establishment against the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda-affiliated networks of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — which is particularly active in Syria's Idlib province — lends added significance to the Turkish army’s intervention in Idlib about a month ago. The operation in Syria was not a unilateral move, but part of the de-escalation zone project agreed to with Russia and Iran in the Astana peace talks. That aside, it also comes with domestic security benefits.

Ankara’s amplifying of its struggle against Salafi-jihadi networks inside Turkey can be deduced from the number of operations conducted and suspects detained. Security sources told Al-Monitor that in 2016, Turkey detained some 2,700 people on suspicion of being Salafi-jihadis, while this year by October, some 4,000 people had already been detained. The number of operations so far this year have doubled compared with 2016 figures. Security sources noted that security operations have only been targeting violent networks and that nonviolent networks with significant popular bases of support have not yet become a focus.

Security sources who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation said their operations have become more successful than in the past because of improved intelligence gathering. As Turkish intelligence elements have become more embedded in al-Bab, Idlib and elsewhere in Syria, they have been able to collect more information about sleeper cells in Turkey. Sources have also noted that the decline of IS and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria and internal disputes among Salafi-jihadi networks in Turkey have resulted in their being more exposed.

Since early October, when the Idlib operation was launched, Turkey has frequently been waking to reports about Salafi-jihadi networks in the country. The latest concerned 30 operations launched Oct. 27 in 10 provinces that resulted in the detention of some 200 extremist Salafists.

One recent operation, on Oct. 27, was particularly noteworthy. It began with suspicious explosions in two houses in the Arnavutkoy and Esenyurt neighborhoods of Istanbul. The following day, four people, including two women, were apprehended while leaving two explosives-laden vehicles in a parking garage at a shopping mall in the Bayrampasa district of Istanbul. Two of those arrested were found to be Austrian citizens of Turkish origin who had been living in Istanbul’s Arnavutkoy district for the past five years. Their connections in Austria are under investigation. In addition to the two cars packed with explosives, a bomb-laden motorcycle was also seized, and a total of 66 homemade explosive devices with remote-control detonators were found in various vehicles. A search of the mall where the suspects were caught revealed four microwave ovens packed with explosives.