Anti-terror office in the central Turkish city of Konya had organized simultaneous operations against 9 suspects who were accused of propagandizing Islamic State (IS) on January 18. It was claimed that the suspects often contacted IS militants in Iraq and Syria.
The suspects were forwarded to the court after giving their statements. The court ruled on releasing the suspects with the condition of the judicial control.
However, this was not the first time IS suspects have walked freely.
In Ankara, for instance, 8 suspects were taken into custody for being members of IS on January 27. The Criminal Court decided to arrest 5 suspects while letting 3 go.
In another incident, another IS suspect, Abdülselim Ç., was released only because he had a “fixed residence” in August 2016. This decision was made despite all the evidence against him –such as IS marches, videos, and photos on his mobile phone, and a book titled “44 Ways to Support Jihad” found in his house– and his own statement, which clearly depicted the stages he went through while working for IS.
Another IS member, Hasan Aydın, who was seen to have given speeches in propaganda videos of IS, was also released after taken into custody for twice. In 2012, he was taken into custody for being a member of Al-Qaeda and was released. Then, in 2015, he was caught while trying to trespass to Syria in a vehicle that was filled with military equipment and a drone. He was again released with the condition of the judicial control.
It is known that IS carried out at least 10 bomb attacks in Turkey since March 18, 2015, killing 251 people, and injuring 858. Bekir Bozdağ, the Minister of Justice, expressed that by July 19, 2016, only 7 members of IS were arrested and taken to prison.
