Turkey arrests 343 suspects in coordinated social‑media crime crackdown

Turkey's Interior Ministry launched simultaneous operations across the country to target criminal groups using social‑media platforms. In 52 provinces, police detained 216 suspects accused of praising crime organisations, recruiting members and sharing propaganda, under the direction of Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi and coordinated by the General Directorate of Security, the National Intelligence Organisation and the Cyber Crime Division.

A separate sweep in 13 provinces resulted in 127 arrests, with 86 suspects placed in custody. Authorities uncovered illegal betting rings, fraud schemes, child‑exploitation material, unauthorised access to mobile banking and online gaming accounts, as well as illicit weapon sales and extremist content. The operations employed AI‑assisted open‑source monitoring, leading to the identification of thousands of crime‑related online accounts, which were subsequently blocked or removed.