ANKARA: With the memories of last year’s deadly Reina nightclub attack on New Year’s Eve still fresh, Turkey has increased security precautions to the highest level nationwide.
Celebration gatherings are banned in Istanbul’s iconic Taksim Square for security reasons, and further precautions will be taken at its surroundings.
The area will be strictly monitored by new traffic surveillance cameras, and 72 night guards will patrol the nearby streets. Border security has also been tightened.
On Wednesday, a French couple accused of being Daesh members were detained at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport, together with their three children, by anti-terror police while they were trying to leave for France. The operation was conducted after France provided Turkey with intelligence reports.
On the same day, Turkish anti-terror police detained 10 suspected Daesh terrorists, all of them Iraqi nationals, in central Eskisehir province.
A day later, police detained at least 60 Daesh suspects during simultaneous anti-terror operations across the country, including in Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa and southern Kahramanmaras provinces.
Last year 39 people, mostly foreigners including Saudis, were killed and 79 people injured in Reina in Istanbul when a Daesh-linked Uzbek terrorist opened fire in the nightclub.
In Turkey, more than 300 people have lost their lives in Daesh-claimed attacks. Some 780 people, including 350 foreigners, remain in detention, and some of them have been convicted for alleged links to Daesh.
“For Turkey, last year’s Reina attack was a turning point in the anti-Daesh fight,” Canalp Korkmaz, a researcher on security studies at ORSAM, a think tank in Ankara, told Arab News. “Several subsequent Daesh attacks were prevented by security forces.”
Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched last year and ended in March 2017, dealt a serious blow to Daesh’s operational capacity by clearing it from the border with Syria, he said.
“The ongoing purge of Gulenist officials, who were accused of devising last year’s failed coup attempt in Turkey, from the security apparatus is also reinforcing Turkey’s counterterrorism intelligence,” he added.
The international community should also focus on other groups, especially the Syrian-Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which potentially endanger international security, Korkmaz said.
Kadir Ertac Celik, adviser on security issues at ANKASAM, a think tank in Ankara, said with Daesh facing near total defeat in Iraq and Syria, the terror group is searching for new targets and strategies.
“The foreign-fighter profile of Daesh is mainly dominated by French and German nationals,” he told Arab News.
“Considering that Turkey is a transit country for them to return their home countries, France and Turkey have common threat perceptions in their fight against terrorism.”
Turkey’s current security precautions are at the same time routine and the product of the psychological imprint of recent terror attacks, Celik said.
“Festivals and gathering areas are favored by terror groups as they can easily target crowds there,” he added.
Celebration gatherings are banned in Istanbul’s iconic Taksim Square for security reasons, and further precautions will be taken at its surroundings.
The area will be strictly monitored by new traffic surveillance cameras, and 72 night guards will patrol the nearby streets. Border security has also been tightened.
On Wednesday, a French couple accused of being Daesh members were detained at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport, together with their three children, by anti-terror police while they were trying to leave for France. The operation was conducted after France provided Turkey with intelligence reports.
On the same day, Turkish anti-terror police detained 10 suspected Daesh terrorists, all of them Iraqi nationals, in central Eskisehir province.
A day later, police detained at least 60 Daesh suspects during simultaneous anti-terror operations across the country, including in Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa and southern Kahramanmaras provinces.
Last year 39 people, mostly foreigners including Saudis, were killed and 79 people injured in Reina in Istanbul when a Daesh-linked Uzbek terrorist opened fire in the nightclub.
In Turkey, more than 300 people have lost their lives in Daesh-claimed attacks. Some 780 people, including 350 foreigners, remain in detention, and some of them have been convicted for alleged links to Daesh.
“For Turkey, last year’s Reina attack was a turning point in the anti-Daesh fight,” Canalp Korkmaz, a researcher on security studies at ORSAM, a think tank in Ankara, told Arab News. “Several subsequent Daesh attacks were prevented by security forces.”
Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched last year and ended in March 2017, dealt a serious blow to Daesh’s operational capacity by clearing it from the border with Syria, he said.
“The ongoing purge of Gulenist officials, who were accused of devising last year’s failed coup attempt in Turkey, from the security apparatus is also reinforcing Turkey’s counterterrorism intelligence,” he added.
The international community should also focus on other groups, especially the Syrian-Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which potentially endanger international security, Korkmaz said.
Kadir Ertac Celik, adviser on security issues at ANKASAM, a think tank in Ankara, said with Daesh facing near total defeat in Iraq and Syria, the terror group is searching for new targets and strategies.
“The foreign-fighter profile of Daesh is mainly dominated by French and German nationals,” he told Arab News.
“Considering that Turkey is a transit country for them to return their home countries, France and Turkey have common threat perceptions in their fight against terrorism.”
Turkey’s current security precautions are at the same time routine and the product of the psychological imprint of recent terror attacks, Celik said.
“Festivals and gathering areas are favored by terror groups as they can easily target crowds there,” he added.
