May 5, 2021 at 1:48 pm | Published in: Europe & Russia, News, Turkey
Turkish police officers stand guard outside Istanbul's Hagia Sophia on March 16, 2019 in Istanbul [YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images]
May 5, 2021 at 1:48 pm
The Turkish police have forcibly removed 76 terrorism-linked "volunteers" from three mosques in southern Turkey. The gatherings, said officers, violated Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
According to the Governor of Gaziantep, "These people called themselves 'Alparslan Kuytul Volunteers' and gathered on 2 May after the night prayer in three mosques." All, it was said, have been investigated in the past for terrorism-related offences.
It was reported that, despite warnings from the mosque imams, they insisted that they would not leave the buildings.