A terrorist attack has been prevented in Turkey. Allegedly, the targets were supposed to be synagogues and Jewish schools. The special services detained the suspect, a citizen of Uzbekistan, Abdulmalik A., who has ties with Islamic State extremist group.

According to news.israelinfo.co.il, the Turkish investigative bodies received intelligence about Abdulmalik A. planning a terrorist attack and heading to the country to carry it out. The security forces managed to infiltrate the encrypted communication channels of radical Islamists and decipher the coded messages where the preparation of the attack was discussed.

The suspect legally entered Turkey through one of the European countries, since he had no previous criminal record or connections to terrorist activity.  

During surveillance it was established that he maintained contact with foreign supervisors and coordinated with them his planned attack on targets in Turkey.

As a result of the special operation, Abdulmalik A. was detained in the basement of a residential building in the Fatih district of Istanbul. He did not resist arrest, no weapons or explosives were found on him, but the investigation suggests that he was planning to purchase them. The man was handed over to the judiciary and was arrested on charges of preparing a terrorist attack.

After the plot was exposed, the Turkish authorities decided to strengthen the security of all Jewish sites. Increased security measures were introduced not only in Istanbul, but also in Bursa and Ankara.