Turkish authorities on Sunday formally arrested five people, including a high school English teacher, for alleged links to Al-Qaida, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported. The five were detained following a sweep against suspected Al-Qaida militants conducted simultaneously in four Turkish cities on Saturday, the agency said. A total of 19 people were detained in the sweep.
Authorities on Sunday formally ordered five of them jailed, the agency reported. They included an English teacher at a high school in the central Turkish city of Aksaray. The other suspects were freed pending trial.
Police in Ankara did not comment on the report. Anatolia said police arrested the 19 in simultaneous operations in Aksaray, Istanbul, the capital, Ankara, and the southern city of Adana. Police also seized firearms, bullets, fake ID cards and other documents, the agency reported.
Daily Milliyet newspaper said the group were members of an Al-Qaida "sleeper cell" that police had been watching for a while. Authorities decided to move against the group over concerns that they may have been preparing an attack, the paper reported.