A gunman shot dead 39 people at a nightclub in İstanbul on New Year's Day in an attack claimed by Islamic State, or IS. The deadly New Year's assault follows a long string of IS attacks in Turkey over the past years.
Islamic State (IS) has organized several bomb attacks in Turkey since March 20, 2014 killed over 300 people. Only 7 IS members have been sentenced until today in consequence of investigations, indictments and trials regarding the Islamist organization’s attacks in Turkey. According to the state-run Anadolu agency data, 7,015 people were detained during the operations of Turkish security forces against IS between 2011 and 2016. Of all the detained militants, 513 were arrested, and only 7 were sentenced.
MASSACRES IN TURKEY
On March 20, the attack in the central Anatolian region of Niğde left two Turkish security personnel and one civilian dead and is seen as the first attack by IS inside the country by the authorities. “Some people might want to cause unrest before the elections,” then-Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay said.
57 people, 34 of them children, died in an IS-linked bomb attack on a Kurdish wedding in the Turkish city of Gaziantep near the Syrian border on Agust 20, 2015.
On June 28, 2015 47 people are killed, including foreigners, and over 200 injured in a triple suicide bombing and gun attack at İstanbul's Ataturk airport. There is no claim of responsibility but authorities say evidence points to IS.
Three Israelis and an Iranian are killed and dozens injured in a suicide bombing targeting İstanbul shopping thoroughfare Istiklal Caddesi, on March 19, 2015.
Twelve German tourists are killed in a suicide attack by a Syrian bomber in İstanbul's Sultanahmet district, the ancient tourist heart of the city and home of the Blue Mosque. The prime minister said the bomber belonged to IS on January 12, 2015.
In the bloodiest attack in Turkey's history, 107 people are killed and more than 500 wounded on October 10, 2015, in twin suicide bombings targeting a pro-Kurdish peace rally in Ankara. The authorities say IS was the main suspect.
33 youth activists are killed and over 100 injured in an explosion that struck a cultural center in the town of Suruç, southeastern Turkey, near the Syrian border on July 20, 2015.
Two explosions that hit an election rally in the Turkish city of Diyarbakır on June 5, 2015. Four people died and over 200 were injured in the attack.
IS attacked the buildings of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in the southern cities of Adana and Mersin on May 18, 2015, resulting in 6 wounded.
ONLY 7 IS MEMBERS WERE SENTENCED
Only 7 IS members have been sentenced until today in consequence of investigations, indictments and trials regarding the Islamist organization’s attacks in Turkey.
According to the state-run Anadolu agency data, 7,015 people were detained during the operations of Turkish security forces against IS between 2011 and 2016. Of all the detained militants, 513 were arrested, and only 7 were sentenced.
Responding to the parliamentary question by Sezgin Tanrıkulu, deputy of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ shared the data dated July 19, 2016:
“According to the ministerial records as of July 19, 2016, 513 arrested and 7 sentenced people are found who are affiliated with the terrorist organization mentioned in the parliamentary question.”
IS MEMBERS RELEASED BY COURTS
Recently, a court in İstanbul released an IS suspect on the grounds that “he has a record of usual place of residence”.
In November 2015, the court immediately released some IS members who were detained during an operation in Ankara on conditions of trial without arrest.
Again, in November 2015, 20 IS suspects who were detained during an operation in the southern city of Antalya were released with a “confidentiality order” regarding the operation.
