Turkiye detains suspected Daesh member in follow-up to New Year attack crackdown

Turkish police stand guard near Taksim Square. (File/AFP)
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Updated 26 December 2025
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Turkiye detains suspected Daesh member in follow-up to New Year attack crackdown

  • Authorities seized digital materials and banned Daesh publications during a raid on his home

ISTANBUL: Turkish authorities on Friday said they had apprehended an additional suspected member of the Daesh group, following the detention of more than 100 suspects earlier this week over alleged plans to carry out attacks during New Year’s celebrations.
State-run Anadolu Agency reported that Ibrahim Burtakucin was captured in a joint operation carried out by police and the National Intelligence Agency in the southeastern city of Malatya.
Security officials told Anadolu that Burtakucin was in contact with numerous Daesh sympathizers in Turkiye and abroad and was seeking an opportunity to join ongoing fighting in conflict zones.
Authorities seized digital materials and banned Daesh publications during a raid on his home.
The arrest comes a day after Istanbul’s prosecutor’s office announced a series of coordinated raids across the country, resulting in the detention of more than 100 suspected members of the extremist group accused of plotting attacks targeting Christmas and New Year celebrations.


Lebanon’s Berri says parliamentary election must be held on time

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Lebanon’s Berri says parliamentary election must be held on time

BEIRUT: Lebanese ‌Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Friday he was committed to holding a parliamentary ​election as scheduled on May 10, despite calls from some politicians to postpone the vote.
Several politicians have called for a delay, citing security concerns in southern Lebanon, where Israel has carried ‌out air strikes targeting ‌Hezbollah.
Berri, a ​Shiite ‌leader ⁠allied ​with Hezbollah, ⁠said in a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency that he had informed President Joseph Aoun and the government of his position.
“It is not permissible that, ⁠at the start of a ‌new era, ‌we obstruct its launch by ​disrupting, postponing ‌or extending the most important constitutional ‌entitlement, which is the foundation for forming authorities and producing political life,” Berri said.
Berri has opened the candidacy registry for ‌the election and submitted the first nomination request for the ⁠Tyre-Zahrani district ⁠in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon last held a parliamentary election in May 2022, a vote marked by low turnout and deep public anger over a financial collapse. The election saw some gains by reformist candidates emerging from the 2019 protest movement, while the Iran-backed Hezbollah ​and its allies ​lost their parliamentary majority. (Reporting by Laila Bassam; Writing by Tala Ramadan; Editing ​by Sharon Singleton)