Police in Turkey foiled seven terrorist attacks during the first eleven months of 2025 and arrested more than 2,063 suspects in anti-terrorist operations across the country, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on 17 December.
The minister made the remarks during a meeting with the police chiefs of Turkey’s 81 provinces, where he stressed that one of the fundamental pillars of public security in Türkiye is the government’s goal of a ‘terrorism-free Turkey’, referring to the government’s initiative against terrorist activities. “This goal is not a wish, but a state policy,” Yerlikaya said, stressing that terrorism should not be seen only as a threat to human life.
“We show zero tolerance to terrorism in all its forms, branches and justifications,” the minister insisted. Quoted in the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, Yerlikaya explained that as of November 2025, security forces under the Interior Ministry had arrested more than 2,000 suspects in operations targeting terrorist organisations, successfully preventing seven planned attacks.
“In the first eleven months of 2025, 2,063 people were arrested in operations against terrorist organisations and seven terrorist acts were prevented. In the first eleven months of the year, police arrested and brought to justice a total of 124,761 people on search warrants, including 20,844 for drug offences, 19,460 for robbery and 2,096 for intentional homicide,” the minister said.
Fight against organised crime and drug trafficking
Yerlikaya also addressed the fight against organised crime, pointing to a recent increase in these activities. Between January and November, he said, 273 organised criminal gangs were dismantled: 153 by the anti-organised crime unit (KOM), 54 by the anti-narcotics unit and 66 by the anti-cybercrime unit.
As a result of these operations, 4,267 suspects were arrested in Turkey and assets valued at approximately 129 billion Turkish Liras (2,575 billion Euros) were seized. In the field of drug trafficking, Yerlikaya reported that 35,000 people were arrested in anti-drug operations during the same period. In total, Turkish security forces confiscated 30 tons of narcotics and 108 million pills, reinforcing the state’s offensive against organised crime and drug trafficking.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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