TURKEY DETAINS 165 SUSPECTED MEMBERS OF RADICAL ISLAMIST GROUP HIZB UT-TAHRIR

AZG Armenian Daily
29/07/2009

Turkey

Police say they have detained 165 suspected members of the Turkish
branch of a radical Islamic movement in a nationwide crackdown.

A statement from the Istanbul police headquarters says the suspected
members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir group were detained in simultaneous
raids in 21 provinces on Friday.

Monday’s statement says the operation was launched in coordination
with Turkey’s national intelligence agency.

It said police seized arms, hundreds of T-shirts emblazoned with
a slogan calling for the establishment of one large state ruled by
Islamic laws, as well as maps and flags of such a state.

The Hizb ut-Tahrir group is banned in Turkey, the Associated Press
reports.