Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey had eliminated Abu al-Qurayshi, the leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization, during an operation in Syria on Saturday, the Anadolu news agency reported.
“The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) had been following the so-called leader of Daesh, code-named Abu Hussein al-Qurayshi, for a long time,” Erdogan was quoted as having told Turkish broadcaster TRT Turk in an interview, using the Arabic name for ISIS.
“This is the first time I am telling this here. This person was neutralized in an operation carried out by the MIT yesterday,” he added.
“We will continue our struggle with terrorist organizations without any discrimination,” stated Erdogan.
Turkey, which has been attacked by ISIS several times, regularly detains suspected members of the group, many who allegedly planned attacks in the country.
In June of 2018, Erdogan revealed that his country captured the wife of former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an operation.
Turkey has also captured Rasmiya Awad, the sister of Baghdadi, as well as her husband and daughter-in-law.

Last September, Turkey arrested a senior executive of ISIS known as Abu Zeyd.
In February, the Turkish intelligence agency busted a network of 15 ISIS operatives, who allegedly planned to carry out terrorist attacks against the embassies of Sweden and the Netherlands in Istanbul.