“The operations were conducted as a result of long-term investigation into people and groups suspected to be in connection with conflict areas,” the Turkish Anadolu news agency reported of an Ankara police statement on Monday.
The police seized “several documents, digital material, two concealed handguns, four rifles and 372 bullets,” according to their statement.
Since July 2015, ISIS has claimed or been accused of seven major attacks in the cities of Istanbul, Ankara, and Suruc.
Most recent of the attacks, which ISIS has claimed, is the New Year’s Day attack in the Istanbul nightclub of Reina, where a gunman killed 39 people and injured at least 69 others. The prime New Year’s Day suspect, an Uzbek national, was arrested near Istanbul after a 17-day manhunt.
Ankara has been criticized for its response to the rise of ISIS. Turkey was a main supply route and thoroughfare for foreign fighters joining the militant group in Syria and Iraq.
Turkey joined the international coalition to defeat ISIS in August 2015 and has attempted to secure its southern border militarily.
In August 2016, the Turkish army began its Operation Euphrates Shield, in which it aims to clear border areas of “terrorists,” Turkish leaders have said, referring to both ISIS militants and Kurdish forces.
