(AFP) Italian police said Wednesday they had disrupted a Turkish criminal operation “with terrorist purposes,” arresting 19 individuals including a major boss associated with recent attacks in Turkey.
Hundreds of police carried out the arrests in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Turkey, police said in a statement, targeting an alleged criminal conspiracy “aimed at setting up an association with terrorist purposes and committing terrorist attacks.”
In Turkey, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 17 of those arrested were Turkish, including Baris Boyun, 39, known as the ringleader of a gang notorious for carrying out murders in Turkey, including via a motorcycle hit squad.
Italian police confirmed Boyun’s arrest.
