Turkey foiled 152 Daesh terrorist attacks in 2020, Interior Minister Soylu says

Turkish security forces have foiled 152 terrorist attacks by Daesh terrorists in the past year, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said Wednesday, Daily Sabah reports.

“We prevented 152 terrorist attacks by Daesh in 2020, and confiscated 26.8 tons of explosives ... We also foiled terrorist attacks by the PKK and DHKP-C,” Soylu said in a live broadcast on TGRT Haber, adding that Turkish security forces work around the clock to ensure security.

In 2013, Turkey became one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist group.

The country has since been attacked by Daesh terrorists multiple times with at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks and four armed attacks killing 315 people and injuring hundreds more.

In response, Turkey launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.

In the fight against the PKK terror group, Soylu said 162 PKK terrorists have laid down their arms so far this year as a result of persuasion efforts by police and gendarmerie forces.

The number of terrorists who surrendered through persuasion efforts in the last three years exceeded 700, he said.

“No other country utilizes unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) better than us,” Soylu said, in reference to the use of drones in the fight against the PKK terrorists. He referred to UAVs as the “hands, feet, arms and eyes” of security forces, highlighting their indispensability in the fight against terrorism.