ANKARA (Sputnik) — The Turkish authorities have detained 5,803 people on suspicion of having links to the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) jihadist group since the start of the conflict in Syria, Interior Minister Efkan Ala said Wednesday.
"Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, 5,803 people, of which 2,200 were foreigners, have been detained in Turkey on suspicion of involvement in IS activities. Since the beginning of the year, 815 people, most of whom were foreigners, have been arrested. As part of the fight against terrorism, 52,075 people have been refused entry to the country [Turkey]," Ala told reporters.
Daesh, outlawed in Russia and many other countries, controls large areas of Syria, which has been mired in civil war since 2011, and Iraq. The group has been spreading their influence to other countries and is notorious for recruiting jihadists, mainly young people, from all over the world via social media.
