ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - At least 100 individuals suspected to be members of the Islamic State (ISIS) have been apprehended across Turkey in the course of the past week, the Turkish minister of the interior announced on Friday.

Ali Yerlikaya said in a tweet on X that the weeklong operation “against the ISIS terrorist organization" was conducted across 23 provinces, arresting “119 suspects”.

"I want our dear nation to know that we will fight without stop or hesitation with your prayers and support until the last terrorist is neutralized,” Yerlikaya said.

The interior minister detailed that multiple armed forces were involved in the operation including Turkey’s intelligence and counterterrorism forces.

The operation was conducted in "Ankara, Adana, Afyonkarahisar, Antalya, Bolu, Bitlis, Bursa, Elazığ, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul, İzmir, Kayseri, Kirsehir, Kilis, Kocaeli, Kutahya, Mardin, Nigde, Ordu, Sakarya, Samsun and Sivas," the minister said. 

The Turkish government has arrested over 500 suspects and supporters of ISIS since the beginning of August, as part of a nationwide campaign that the government has started to clamp down on support for the extremist group in their country.

ISIS controlled large swathes of territory in parts of Iraq and Syria following their rise in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2019. 

The group no longer controls any territory, but they are active in their hit-and-run operations, posing serious danger to security around the areas that they had once controlled. 

Though Turkey is a member of the Global Coalition against ISIS, Ankara has on multiple occasions been accused of financially and militarily supporting the group, a claim the Turkish government denies.