The Istanbul’s Security Directorate raided 15 separate addresses, detaining suspects for their alleged links to “engagement areas” of the group and membership in social media groups linked to the ISIL, the site said.

The wife of Abu Omar al-Shishani, a senior ISIL commander killed in combat two years ago, was arrested in Istanbul last week in another counter-terrorism operation.

Since 2013, more than 300 people have lost their lives in ISIL-claimed attacks in Turkey, where the group has targeted civilians with suicide bombs, rockets, and gun attacks,  according to state-run Anadolu News Agency.