Turkey arrests suspected IS member working at nuclear plant

Counter-terrorism police in Turkey have arrested a suspected member of the so-called "Islamic State" group who was working at a nuclear plant, authorities said on Tuesday.

Local media reported that the suspect was a Russian national who had been working at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant under false identity papers.

The suspect was brought before a court and jailed pending trial.

Turkish authorities crack down on IS suspects

The Akkuyu nuclear facility is a $20 billion (€18.5 billion) project being built by Russian state-owned energy giant Rosatom in Mersin province on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

It is slated to start generating electricity next year.

The latest arrest comes after two IS gunmen killed a Turkish citizen in an attack on a Catholic church in Istanbul last month.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said last week that police arrested 147 people with suspected ties to IS in operations across 33 provinces.

zc/lo (Reuters, AP)