Turkey Rounds Up 2,447 People in Operation Targeting Crime Gangs

Authorities launched a wide-ranging crackdown on crime under the slogan 'The Streets are Safe', timed to coincide with the beginning of the school year.Turkey’s Justice Minister Akin Gurlek. Photo: Justice Ministry of Turkey. Turkish Police and Gendarmerie launched a major operation called “The Streets Are Safe” on Monday, detaining 2,447 people to coincide with the first morning of the new school year in 78 provinces across the country. “Our streets will not be left to criminal organisations. Our children and young people will not become the human resources of criminal organisations,” Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said in a statement, defining the detainees as members of “new generation of street gangs”. The operation targeted criminal groups allegedly involved in offences ranging from drug trafficking, robbery and arms dealing to blackmail, money laundering and illegal betting. Gurlek said the campaign was intended not only to detain suspects but also to dismantle the criminal groups’ finances, networks, logistical capabilities and ability to recruit new members. He highlighted the alleged recruitment of young people through social media, accusing criminal groups of seeking to portray involvement in crime as a source of “power and status”. “We are resolutely continuing our fight against street gangs that threaten the peace of our people, the security of our cities and the future of our children,” the minister added. In a separate development on Sunday, Turkish police authorities detained members of the LGBTQ+ rights organisation Kaos GL and raided activists’ homes as well as bars and nightclubs in separate operations across 15 provinces, targeting 162 suspects, nine associations and 13 businesses. Kaos GL said at least 10 of its members were detained. Separately, courts blocked access to websites and social media accounts belonging to a number of LGBTQ+ organisations, activists and rights defenders, including Kaos GL, Lambdaistanbul, Pembe Hayat and UniKuir.