The counterterrorism teams started to watch the suspects after surveillance discovered that they were planning terrorist activities. Teams from the İstanbul Police department's counterterrorism unit with the cooperation of counterterrorism teams in other cities carried out simultaneous operations against Turkish branches of al-Qaeda early Thursday morning, raiding homes and workplaces in Bursa, Erzurum, Sakarya, Konya, Hatay, Batman and Van.
Meanwhile, six militants were also taken into custody in İstanbul and sent to the Beşiktaş court. They were sentenced by the court for their previous involvement in the bloody bombings in İstanbul targeting an HSBC building and synagogues in 2003. The group's Van representative was taken into custody in İstanbul, and one loaded gun was also seized in the operation.
The suspects detained in Erzurum,Van, Batman, Konya and İstanbul were brought to hospitals for medical examinations and later taken to the Police department's counterterrorism unit.
A number of suspects who were taken into custody were reportedly trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and were given orders directly from Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is known as al-Qaeda's second in command.
Meanwhile, it is reported that the mother of one of the suspects, M.M., 17, who was detained in a house in Konya, had called the police and stated that her son was missing. The suspect left his home in Van and went to Konya, where he met with al-Qaeda members he had met previously.
