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Indonesia seeks missing nationals in Turkey amid IS recruiting suspicion

Xinhua, March 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

Indonesia is searching 16 of its nationals reported missing in Turkey after they split from their tour entourage and lost contact, a senior official of Indonesia's foreign ministry said here on Friday.

Indonesian Intelligence Agency (BIN) has been coordinating with Turkey's intelligence service on their possible joining in the radical group Islamic State (IS).

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir said the 16 were among 24 people taking part in a tour to Turkey.

They asked the travel agent to split from the entourage from visiting a tourist destination shortly after their arrival at Istanbul's Attaturk airport on Feb. 24.

The missing persons planned to visit Istanbul and several other cities in Turkey, media reports said.

The spokesperson said the Indonesian embassy in Turkey has reported the case to the Turkish police.

All of those disappearing persons came from Surabaya, East Java, he added.

Nasir said there has been no confirmation so far whether they had joined IS or not at the moment.

BIN Chief Marciano Norman said further coordination with its Turkish counterpart is underway at the moment to seek confirmation of the IS recruiting.

Marciano said this recruiting channel has been used by Indonesians.

The Indonesian government has banned the IS ideology from developing in the country. The authorities have arrested people promoting the IS and those trying to recruit militants for the group. Endi