Russian Embassy in Turkey Investigating Detention of Nat’l Accused of Terrorism

The Russian embassy in Turkey is verifying the details of detention of a Russian national suspected of tattooist activities, spokeswoman Irina Kasimova told Sputnik.

ANKARA (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, local media reported that Turkish police had detained Russian national Renat Bakiev over suspicion of being a Daesh terror group (banned in Russia) militant and preparing a terrorist attack.

"Today Turkish media reported the detention of Russian national Renat Bakiev on the Turkish territory on suspicion … of terrorist activities. The Russian embassy is carrying out necessary work to clarify this information," Kasimova said.

The Sabah newspaper reported that police found Bakiev's Telegram messenger correspondence with a Daesh member about the purchase of a drone to attack an US military aircraft in the vicinity of the Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey.

The media outlet added that the detainee was conducting reconnaissance in the area of the airbase on a rented bicycle.

This is not the first insrance of Russian nationals being detained over suspicion of terrorist activities. In July a Russian family was detained and accused of attempting to illegally cross the Turkish-Syrian border to join extremist groups that are fighting there.

Various extremist groups have been actively recruiting foreigners since the beginning of the Syrian civil war. The armed conflict has been raging for six years with government forces fighting against both Syrian opposition groups who strive to overthrow President Bashar Assad, and numerous terrorist groups such as Daesh and Jabhat Fatah al Sham.