16 ISIL suspects appear before court as detentions continue

16 ISIL suspects appear before court as detentions continue

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

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Sixteen suspects linked to last week’s terror attack on an Istanbul airport appeared before a court on July 4.

The suspects, including 11 foreigners, were sent to the Bakırköy Courthouse following a medical examination, a source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.        

They have been charged with being members of a terrorist organization.    

Thirteen suspects linked to the Istanbul airport terror attack were remanded in custody by a court in Istanbul on July 3.      

The defendants, including three foreigners, were jailed pending trial by a judge at Bakırköy Peace Court, the source said.

The exact nature of the charges they face is unknown.      

Earlier on July 3, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said 29 people had been arrested in connection with the June 28 gun and bomb attack at Atatürk International Airport that left at least 45 dead and more than 200 injured.

Two suspected foreign members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were detained late on July 3 at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport, which was the scene of a deadly suicide attack blamed on the jihadist group last week.

Police units at the airport conducted identity checks and a body search on two suspects who had arrived from Ukraine at the airport’s international arrivals floor.

K.V., who holds Kyrgyz and Russian passports, and F.M.İ., a Kyrgyz national who also has residency in Ukraine, were detained following the checks.

Police seized four thermal sharpshooter binoculars, three uniforms with military camouflage, two passports, three Kyrgyz ID cards and five birth certificates during the checks.

The two were also accused of arranging passports and ID cards to women and couples with children in areas controlled by ISIL, as well as providing birth certificates to newborns in ISIL areas.