Police detained 10 suspected al-Qaida militants, including a lawyer who identified himself as the group’s leader in Turkey, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported Saturday.
The 10 were detained in simultaneous raids in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, the agency reported. It did not say when the operations took place.
The group was under surveillance for more than a year and the raids were ordered after authorities determined the group had obtained materials to make bombs, the report said.
Police seized bomb-making material, including what the agency called a “CD bomb” — a minuscule explosive device placed on a compact disc which would have exploded if played.
In 2003, 58 people were killed in two suicide bomb attacks in Istanbul. Authorities blamed the attacks on a Turkish al-Qaida cell and more than 70 suspected al-Qaida militants are on trial for those bombings.