ANKARA, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Turkish security forces captured one of the senior executives of the Islamic State (IS), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said late Thursday.

Turkish police and intelligence captured Bashar Hattab Ghazal al Sumaidai, code-named Abu Zeyd and Master Zeyd, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported.

"International reports and the UN Security Council report also contained information that this terrorist was one of the senior executives of the Daesh (IS) terrorist organization. During his interrogation, there are his statements that he was a so-called 'qadi' in the so-called ministry of education and the ministry of justice," Erdogan told reporters on the presidential plane on his way back from Croatia.

His connections in Syria and Istanbul had been followed for a long time, and intelligence information was obtained that he would enter Türkiye illegally, Erdogan said.

Istanbul police found out that al Sumaidai had been using a fake identity and props to disguise himself, Erdogan said.

After Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Abdul-Nasser Qardash, Abu Zeyd was one of the most important leaders of the group, the Turkish president said.

The Turkish government designated the IS as a terrorist organization in 2013. The IS has been accused of launching a spate of deadly attacks in Türkiye since 2015. Turkish counter-terrorism forces have been conducting operations against IS members in the country.

Türkiye's southern border with Syria has been a major crossing point for Syrians and foreign fighters since the civil war started in Syria in 2011. Enditem

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