Russian under arrest for ‘Isil plot’ in Turkey
A RUSSIAN man suspected of fighting for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) was detained in Turkey yesterday for reportedly plotting to stage terrorist attacks on a US military plane, according to reports.
Renat Bakiev was reported to be an Isil militant who was preparing to attack the İncirlik airbase in Adana.
Mr Bakiev was detained near the airbase, where he reportedly arrived on a bike to scout out the area before the attack. According to the Hürriyet newspaper, Mr Bakiev confessed to planning to shoot down a US military plane with a drone.
He was also suspected of carrying out preparations for a plot to attack a centre of the Alevi religious minority – an offshoot of the Shia sect of Islam – in Adana city, Dogan news agency reported.
The Russian embassy in Turkey could not immediately confirm the arrest. “This morning Turkish media reported [the police] detaining Russian national Renat Bakiev on Turkish soil upon suspicion that he was involved in terrorist activities,” said Irina Kasimova, the embassy spokesman, in a statement to Russian news agencies.
“The Russian consulate is working on clarifying the situation and the circumstances of the case.”
Mr Bakiev was previously deported from Turkey after he tried to illegally cross the Syrian border, Russia’s Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported. It was not immediately clear how he managed to return to Turkey.