Türkiye Detains 304 People For Alleged ISIS Ties

Turkish riot police stand guard in front of the Justice Palace in Istanbul March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
Turkish riot police stand guard in front of the Justice Palace in Istanbul March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
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Türkiye Detains 304 People For Alleged ISIS Ties

Turkish riot police stand guard in front of the Justice Palace in Istanbul March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
Turkish riot police stand guard in front of the Justice Palace in Istanbul March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Turkish authorities have detained 304 people allegedly affiliated with ISIS militants after launching a sweeping operation against the group, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Friday.

Police carried out simultaneous raids in 32 cities including Istanbul as part of the operation, dubbed HEROES-34, according to AFP.

Eighty-six suspects were detained in Istanbul alone, Yerlikaya said in a social media post.

"We will continue to fight against terrorism with determination until the last terrorist is neutralized," he said.

ISIS extremists have carried out a string of attacks on Turkish soil, including against a nightclub in Istanbul in 2017 that left 39 people dead.



Chinese President: Protectionism ‘Leads Nowhere’

Chinese President Xi Jinping (AFP) 
Chinese President Xi Jinping (AFP) 
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Chinese President: Protectionism ‘Leads Nowhere’

Chinese President Xi Jinping (AFP) 
Chinese President Xi Jinping (AFP) 

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that protectionism “leads nowhere” and that a trade war would have “no winners,” state media said, as he was due to kick off a tour of Southeast Asia with a visit to Vietnam.

Xi’s trip to southeast Asia is likely to cast China as a trustful partner, contrasting itself with Washington, which launched a global trade war.

The Chinese President’s first overseas trip of the year will see him visit Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia where he will meet his three Southeast Asian counterparts, the country’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Writing in an article published Monday in Vietnam's major Nhan Dan newspaper, Xi urged the two countries to “resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment,” Beijing's Xinhua News Agency said.

He also reiterated Beijing's line that a “trade war and tariff war will produce no winner, and protectionism will lead nowhere,” the agency added.

Xi’s visit comes at a time when the Asian giant is trying to present itself as a stable alternative to the US, which announced sweeping tariffs this month that sent global markets into a tailspin.

Xi will be in Vietnam on Monday and Tuesday, his first trip there since December 2023.

The two countries have close economic ties, but Hanoi is concerned about Beijing’s increasing assertiveness in the contested South China Sea.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea as its own, but this is disputed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Brunei.

The Chinese leader in his Monday article insisted Beijing and Hanoi could resolve those disputes through dialogue.

“We should properly manage differences and safeguard peace and stability in our region,” Xi wrote, according to Xinhua.

“With vision, we are fully capable of properly settling maritime issues through consultation and negotiation,” he said.