Islamic State Planned Terror Attack on Hagia Sophia, Says Suleyman Soylu

Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, commenting on the arrest of Mahmut Ozden, the leader of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group in Adana, announced that IS had planned a terrorist act against Hagia Sophia (the famous Byzantine cathedral).

Soylu stated that Ozden, who is considered the IS commander in Turkey, was arrested on August 20, with several digital devices and documents seized, as reported by ermenihaber. In an interview with the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet, the minister mentioned that in addition to the planned terrorist act against Hagia Sophia, IS had also been organizing operations targeting several key economic sites and organizations over the course of one and a half months, which could lead to chaos in Turkey.

According to his statement, Turkish intelligence units arrested several IS members during August 18-25. 'If IS is a radical organization, then it should not be interested in Hagia Sophia, but rather in the türbes (the tombs of Ottoman and Muslim spiritual leaders),' said Soylu.

He also revealed that Mahmut Ozden had facilitated the escape of several politicians and members of the state administrative apparatus to Syria.