Seventeen suspects accused of financing Daesh terrorist group were detained on Tuesday in Istanbul. Detentions came after an investigation by the counterterrorism investigation unit of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office. The investigation, assisted by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), found out that suspects were involved in money traffic between Daesh members in "conflict zones" and Türkiye through companies and individuals.

They are also accused of making cash transfers to and from people whose assets were frozen earlier for their links to the terrorist group. Three other suspects wanted by authorities remain at large.

In a social media post about the operation, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said police raided 20 residences and seven workplaces simultaneously to capture the suspects. He said police found TL 222,000, 32,480 euros and $15,900 in possession of suspects, as well as a large number of "digital materials." "We will drain the financial resources of terrorists!" Yerlikaya wrote.

In 2013, Türkiye became one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist group. The country has since been attacked by the terrorist group multiple times, with over 300 people killed and hundreds more injured in at least 10 suicide bombings, seven bomb attacks and four armed attacks. In response, Türkiye launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad to prevent further attacks.

Terrorists from Daesh and other groups, such as the PKK and its Syrian wing, the YPG, rely on a network of members and supporters in Türkiye. In response, Ankara has been intensifying its crackdown on the terrorists and their links at home, conducting pinpoint operations and freezing assets to eliminate the terrorist groups by their roots.

Since its formal defeat in Iraq in 2017 and significant loss of territory in Syria since 2015, Daesh members have been leading their operations underground, besides losing their leaders to military operations. The group’s last three leaders, all Iraqis, were killed in Syria in recent years outside areas it once purported to rule.