Those detained and taken in for questioning included 35 minors Police in Turkey have arrested 85 people in nationwide raids on an organized crime group suspected of involvement in crimes including an arson attack on a Starlink facility in Poland. Police conducted raids in 30 Turkish provinces on Tuesday, taking the suspects—including 35 minors—into custody for questioning, Turkey’s Anadolu state-run press agency reported. The suspects are believed to be connected with the ‘Dalton’ gang, an Istanbul-based crime group accused, among other things, of recruiting young people via social media to commit criminal acts. Prosecutors allege that the recruits were managed through the WhatsApp messaging platform and investigators identified suspects they believed were preparing to commit crimes, Anadolu said. Starlink fire The Dalton gang is suspected of involvement in an arson attack in central Poland in September attributed by Polish authorities to Russia. The blaze at the Starlink station in the village of Wola Krobowska engulfed its power system and backup generator. Poland said at the time it believed the fire was an act of sabotage aimed at disrupting internet services, including for Ukraine's military. Four suspects in the case were subsequently arrested, though details remain unclear. Two Turkish men were detained in Germany on October 12 after European Arrest Warrants were issued for them at Poland’s request. The following day, reports emerged that a woman had also been arrested in Berlin as well as a fourth person. Foreign intelligence The two Turkish nationals have been detained pending extradition to Poland to face charges of sabotage and working for a foreign intelligence service, Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) said on October 16. The Starlink arson suspects’ alleged connections with the Dalton gang were reported by German public broadcaster ARD and Der Spiegel magazine. Turkish authorities believe the Dalton gang is directed from Russia by its alleged leader, Beratcan Gökdemir, who is wanted on an Interpol Red Notice. The gang has been linked by Turkish prosecutors to murders, armed attacks, extortion and drug trafficking, Turkish Minute, a news service run by exiled Turkish journalists, reported.
