11:29, 14 April 2016

"Rosbalt": suspect of killing Edilgeriev had been wanted by Interpol

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey. Photo by Magomed Magomedov for the ‘Caucasian Knot’.

One of the Russian citizens, detained in Turkey on suspicion of espionage and murder, is Valid Lurakhmaev, a native of Chechnya, who used the document to the name of Alexander Smirnov, said a law enforcement source.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 13 Turkish security services detained two Russian citizens – the 52-year-old Yuri Anisimov and the 55-year-old Alexander Smirnov – on suspicion of espionage and killing Abdulvakhid Edilgeriev, the administrator of the website "Kavkaz-Centre".

According to preliminary data, one of the Russian citizens detained in Istanbul is the "Chechen authority" Valid Lurakhmaev, wanted in Russia and France, also known by the nickname Validol, said the source.

According to his story, Lurakhmaev used documents to the name of Alexander Smirnov.

"We had operative data that Validol appeared in Turkey, but local authorities had stubbornly refused to cooperate with us," the "Rosbalt" quotes the source as saying today.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.