Turkey: Suspected Islamic State member working at nuclear power plant is arrested
Counter-terrorism police detained a Russian national who had been working at the Akkuyu nuclear facility, allegedly with false identity papers, according to reports.
Tuesday 13 February 2024 16:06, UK
A suspected Islamic State member working at a nuclear power plant in Turkey has been arrested, reports say.
Counter-terrorism police detained the Russian national who was employed at the under-construction Akkuyu facility using false identity papers, according to the Ihlas news agency and other outlets.
The suspect has appeared in a Turkish court and was remanded in custody pending a trial.
The £15.8bn power plant is being built by Russian state-owned energy giant Rosatom in Mersin province on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.
Akkuyu was granted nuclear facility status last April when it received its first nuclear fuel and is expected to start producing electricity next year.
Interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said last week that 147 people suspected of having ties to IS have been arrested across Turkey.
The country has been targeted by the terror group in recent years.
IS claimed responsibility for a shooting last month that killed one person during Sunday mass at a Catholic church in Istanbul.
The group said it "attacked a gathering of Christian unbelievers during their polytheistic ceremony" inside the Santa Maria Church in the city's Buyukdere neighbourhood.
Mr Yerlikaya said at the time that two men, one from Russia and one from Tajikistan, who were believed to be IS members, were arrested. Dozens of suspects were also detained over the attack.
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The extremist group has also carried out a string of deadly attacks in the country, including a shooting at an Istanbul nightclub in 2017 that killed 39 people and a 2015 bomb attack in Ankara that killed 109.