Thirty-nine people were detained in operations conducted in eight provinces on 6 October as part of an ISIS investigation by the Kahramanmaraş Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. A judgeship arrested 22 suspects and placed 17 under judicial control. Among those detained was researcher and writer Kul Sadi Yüksel, who criticized ISIS’s takfiri views. Police detained the 69-year-old Yüksel with his hands cuffed behind his back. Prosecutors alleged that the suspects carried out organizational activities within a takfiri-Salafi structure and attended alternative Friday prayers. Weapons, ammunition, digital material and various publications were seized during the operations. A judgeship placed Yüksel under house arrest after he was referred with a request for arrest. The specific charges against Yüksel and the activities cited as grounds for the allegation of organization membership were not disclosed to the public. Yüksel, whose name appeared in a report on Salafism prepared by the Presidency of Religious Affairs, had previously rejected ISIS’s views in his speeches.
11 October 2026
Serbestiyet
