Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced the arrest of 600 suspects believed to be involved in terrorism on Saturday. The massive strike against terror included ISIS and PKK targets.
Earlier this week, Turkish authorities named ISIS as the cause of a suicide bombing that killed 30 people in Suruc, a town near the Syrian border. The Turkey-Syria border has been the source of many recent and historic disputes.
This is only one of the country's problems, as Turkey has also been recently terrorized by the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK). Two Turkish police offered were killed on Wednesday by the militant organization.
The massive arrests targeted members of both ISIS and PKK, and is the first time Turkey has attacked both forces at the same time. "This s a game-changer," American Air Force Lt. Col. Rich Francona said, according to CNN.
In a large-scale police operation that lasted all day Saturday, Turkish forces bombed ISIS positions in Iraq, arrested Kurdish militants and took hundreds of terror suspects into custody, UPI reported. The operation was carried out following a security meeting on Thursday among top-level officials in Turkey.
Around 5,000 police officers swarmed various locations across Turkey on Saturday in a highly coordinated effort that included multiple raids on more than 100 addresses. This included Mediterranean vacation areas like Antalya, according to Express.
Prime Minister Davutoglu said operations against ISIS and PKK "will continue as long as there is a threat against Turkey." The previous treaty established by Turkey and PKK "has no meaning," he said.
