Turkish authorities arrested 357 individuals suspected of links to the Islamic State (ISIS) in a major nationwide counterterrorism operation on Tuesday, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced.

The simultaneous raids were conducted by police across 21 provinces, including major cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya, and Gaziantep, as well as provinces in southeastern and central Turkey. Multiple security agencies were involved in the coordinated action.

“This morning, in 21 provinces, we apprehended 357 suspected ISIS members in simultaneous operations conducted by our police,” Yerlikaya stated in a post on the social media platform X.

The minister reiterated Turkey’s firm stance against terrorism, declaring, “Just as we have never given opportunities to those trying to bring this homeland to its knees through terrorism up to this day, we will never give them opportunities in the future either.”

The large-scale arrests follow a deadly confrontation on Monday in the northwestern city of Yalova, where three Turkish police officers were killed and nine others wounded during an anti-ISIS operation. Six suspected ISIS members were also killed in that firefight, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Turkey frequently conducts operations against ISIS, which has been responsible for numerous deadly attacks in the country over the past decade. The group, which declared a so-called caliphate across parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014, was declared territorially defeated in 2017 in Iraq and in 2019 in Syria. However, it remains a persistent security threat, particularly in eastern Syria and disputed territories between Baghdad and Erbil.

A member of the US-led Global Coalition Against Daesh (ISIS), Turkey has consistently denied longstanding accusations from critics that it previously provided financial or military support to the militant group.