Turkey detains 400 people over alleged links to criminal gangs

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 400 people have been detained over links to organized crime groups within the scope of an operation carried out simultaneously in 50 provinces.

The operation dubbed “Cylinder” is targeting a total of 55 criminal organizations, seeking arrest of 502 suspects, Soylu said on Tuesday.

“We will be ruthless against organized crime groups, whatever the cost would be,” he said, Cumhuriyet newspaper reported.

The number of organized crime suspects in Turkey rose from 2,676 in 2020 to 4,978 last year, according to the Interior Ministry’s General Directorate of Security’s annual reports on Fighting Against Smuggling and Organised Crime.

In 2021, Turkish security forces carried out 767 operations in 72 provinces against organized crime groups, arresting 1,193 out of 4,978 suspects.

In 2020, the number of operations stood at 176 in 46 provinces and security forces arrested 891 out of 2,676 organized crime suspects.