Turkey arrests IS suspects

ISTANBUL: Turkish police on Sunday rounded up dozens of Islamic State suspects including Syrian nationals in a security sweep on the country’s national day holiday, local media reported.

Twenty-two suspects were arrested in the eastern province of Erzurum including alleged senior members of the Jihadist group, and 39 suspects in the northwestern Bursa province, the official Anadolu news agency reported, citing security sources.

The suspects included two Azerbaijanis and 28 Syrians, it added. The operation comes a day after police arrested 49 alleged IS members in Ankara -- some of whom were suspected of planning an attack on Republic Day on Sunday.

Turkey has been hit by a series of attacks blamed on IS jihadists over the past two years, including a New Year attack this year on an elite Istanbul nightclub during which 39 people were killed by an IS gunman. There has been a lull in attacks since, but tensions remain high and Turkish police launch raids almost daily against suspected IS cells across the country.