Turkish special service reports connection of detainees in Istanbul with leaders of Chechnya

Six persons arrested in Istanbul on a charge of political espionage were planning to kill natives of Chechnya on orders of a top-ranking Chechen official, the Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization reported.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on October 20, in Istanbul, a court arrested six persons accused of political and military espionage, including citizens of Russia Abdula Abdulaev, Ravshan Akhmedov, Beslan Rasaev, and Aslanbek Abdulmuslimov, citizen of Ukraine Igor Efrim, and citizen of Uzbekistan Amir Yusupov. The eldest in the group was native of Chechnya Beslan Rasaev, Chechen opposition blogger Khasan Khalitov reported.

According to the Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the arrested persons were planning to kill a Chechen dissident living in Turkey on an order of a top-ranking Chechen official, the newspaper Daily Sabah reports. They imply Abdulhakim, a participant in the fighting in Syria on the side of opponents of the Bashar al-Assad regime. According to the Turkey’s MIT, Beslan Rasaev fulfilled orders of a person affiliated with Ramzan Kadyrov.

Abdulhakim (Abdulhakim Shishani) may be the pseudonym of Ruslan Azhiev, whose grouping “Ajnad al-Caucasus” acted independently in Syria, the “Kavkaz.Realii”* reports.

Let us remind you that in September, Khasan Khalitov accused Chechen law enforcers of kidnapping his relatives. He also claimed that the Chechen authorities stood behind the declaration of blood feud against him and several families, including the Azhiev family.

*The edition has been included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the list of the media performing the functions of foreign agents.