Turkish police: ISIS members detained, yet "no evidence of threat"

Fifteen suspects have been taken into custody in Turkey on allegations that they may be involved in plans to carry out attacks on the consulates of The Netherlands and Sweden in Istanbul and on places of worship that belong to Christian and Jewish communities, Istanbul Police Department announced on Saturday.

The press communication of the police said:

"Upon information provided by the National Intelligence Agency and the intelligence branch of the police, 15 individuals were detained for conveying the instructions of the Islamic State's (ISIS) alleged Horasan leadership, after the burning of a copy of the Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, to carry out attacks against the consulates of The Netherlands and Sweden in Istanbul and against places of worship of the Christian and Jewish communities."

The communication added, though, that no solid evidence of such plans was actually found out:

"While the links of the detainees to ISIS and to activities in conflict zones have been documented, any solid threat against the consulates and Christian and Jewish worship houses could not be confirmed."

Earlier, upon decisions by nine foreign governments to temporarily close their diplomatic missions in Turkey over terror warnings, Turkish officials on Thursday protested at the closures and called on ambassadors of the nine countries (the US, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, the UK, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy) to "cooperate with security units."