Turkish police detained eight suspected members of the Islamic State, state media said Wednesday, adding they were planning to sneak into Europe posing as refugees.
Counter-terror police detained the suspects in Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport after they flew in from the Moroccan city of Casablanca on Tuesday, the official Anatolia news agency reported.
The police found a hand-written note on one of the suspects detailing a migration route from Istanbul to Germany via Greece, Serbia and Hungary, including smuggler boats across the Mediterranean Sea, as well as several train and bus journeys.
The eight men told police that they were just tourists who had been planning to spend a few days in Istanbul and had booked rooms at a hotel, but no reservations were found under their names.
Turkey is the main launching point for migrants coming to Europe, and currently hosts over two million Syrian refugees.
