ISTANBUL / KOCAELI, Turkey

A total of 21 people have been taken into custody on Thursday in anti-terror operations across Istanbul and Kocaeli, police said.

Six of the suspects were caught in northwestern Kocaeli province as anti-terror squads from the provincial police conducted simultaneous raids in different addresses in Darica and Gebze districts.

Police had taken 15 people into custody earlier in the day during raids targeting 28 different locations in Istanbul's Bagcilar and Basaksehir districts, police sources said.