Country Report on Terrorism 2024 - Chapter 1 - Türkiye

Country Overview: Türkiye is a source and transit country for FTFs seeking to join ISIS and other terrorist groups fighting in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, as well as for FTFs who seek to depart Syria and Iraq. Türkiye continued its efforts to defeat terrorist organizations both inside and outside its borders, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C), and ISIS. The PKK continued terrorist attacks in Türkiye and against Turkish interests outside the country. In response, Turkish security forces conducted operations domestically and military operations in northern Iraq and northern Syria. The International Crisis Group assessed that 10 state security forces, 136 PKK members, and 20 civilians were killed in 2024 in PKK-linked clashes or attacks.

Turkish security forces launched airstrikes in northern Iraq and northeast Syria following an October attack targeting a Turkish Aerospace Industries facility, which was claimed by the PKK. After the January 28 attack on the Church of Santa Maria in Istanbul, Turkish National Intelligence Organization-supported operations led to the detention of 51 suspects, including an ISIS member who allegedly supplied the weapons and helped plan the attack.

In 2024, Turkish Airlines, owned by the Turkish government, took additional steps to strengthen screening and scrutiny of travel documents to prevent terrorist travel and terrorist organizations’ use of human smuggling networks. Türkiye has a broad legal definition of terrorism that includes so-called crimes against the constitutional order and internal and external security of the state. The Turkish government regularly used counterterrorism laws to detain, arrest, and prosecute individuals exercising freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly.

In June, FATF removed Türkiye from its gray list. The United States and Türkiye jointly imposed terrorist designations on three individuals with links to ISIS, including members of an ISIS-linked human smuggling network. Interior Minister Yerlikaya announced that Turkish authorities had detained 154 terror finance suspects in 18 operations, seizing around $170,000 linked mainly to ISIS. Additionally, on June 9, police arrested 11 ISIS suspects using currency exchange offices and trade companies for money laundering, while authorities analyzed cryptocurrency accounts tied to ISIS facilitators, leading to the freezing of assets from several companies suspected of financing terrorism.

2024 Terrorism Trends: Between January 1 and November 1, Turkish security forces conducted 40,521 counterterrorism operations and prevented 92 terrorist acts, and security forces detained 655 ISIS suspects in 1,205 operations. In September, Türkish official said that the country deported around 10,000 suspected FTFs and prevented the entry of another 120,000.

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