Turkish police detain 14 Islamic State suspects before elections - Anadolu

Turkish police detain 14 Islamic State suspects before elections - Anadolu
By Reuters
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ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish police detained 14 suspected Islamic State members who were preparing an attack in Ankara ahead of this weekend's elections, state-run Anadolu news agency said on Friday.

Counter-terror squad police in the capital swooped on various addresses in simultaneous raids and took the suspects, all foreign nationals, to police headquarters for questioning, the agency said.

Turks vote on Sunday in presidential and parliamentary elections that will trigger a change to a powerful presidential system.

Police in Turkey regularly carry out operations targeting the militant group.

Islamic State has carried out numerous bombings across Turkey in recent years, including an attack on a nightclub in Istanbul on Jan. 1, 2017, in which 39 people were killed and a bombing in the city's historic heart that killed 12 in 2016.

(Reporting by Daren Butler; editing by Richard Pullin)

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