Two Turkish nationals arrested in Malaysia are being held on suspicion of funding the ISIS group, Kuala lumpur said on Thursday, after a rights organisation raised concerns of pressure from Ankara for the detentions.
Malaysia’s anti-terrorism police unit had been investigating the two men, along with a number of others, for “spreading, influencing and funding” IS activities, deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said. Officers had a raft of communications between Turgay Karaman and Ihsan Aslan, Zahid told reporters, without revealing details of the alleged exchanges.
News of the arrests broke yesterday, when national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar tweeted that the men were being held “because they threatened the security of Malaysia.”
But Turkey’s state-run news agency said that the pair were linked to a US-based preacher accused of organising a failed coup last year.