Istanbul, September 3, 2020
cyprus-mail.com
The infamous terrorist group ISIS was planning for the last month and a half to attack Agia Sophia and other sites and to kidnap senior Turkish statemen and politicians to Syria, though Turkish police managed to foil the group’s plans.
ISIS was attempting to form hit-teams of 10-12 people to carry out the attacks, Minister of the Interior Süleyman Soylu announced after Mahmut Özden, codenamed Abu Hamzi, the so-called “Emir of Turkey,” was arrested, reports the Hurriyet Daily News.
Agia Sophia has dominated headlines lately, as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan realized his dream of converting the ancient cathedral into a mosque once again.
Police captured ISIS suspect Hüseyin Sağır with an assault rifle on August 18, taking the “Emir” two days later. During the subsequent interrogations, police managed to confiscate digital materials that contained plans for the attacks.
Other ISIS terrorists were also detained in the operations, and interrogations are ongoing, the Minister reported.
Özden was previously detained in 2017 for recruiting terrorists and in 2019 for extorting local shopkeepers, reports the Daily Sabah.
Turkey recognized ISIS as a terrorist group in 2013, and has been attacked numerous times since then, including 10 suicide bombings, 7 bombings, and 4 armed assaults, which have killed 315 people and injured hundreds more.
