 |
Britain
and Turkey have exchanged blame over who is responsible for allowing three
London schoolgirls to travel to Istanbul, possibly en route to join Islamic
State (also known as ISIS or ISIL).
UK
police denied a claim from Turkey it took three days to tell Ankara about the
missing East London schoolgirls.
A
statement issued by London’s Metropolitan Police said Turkey was informed
within 24 hours of the disappearance of Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16,
and Amira Abase, 15.
Turkey’s
Deputy Prime Minister, Bülent Arınç, criticized Britain on Monday for taking
too long to notify the authorities in Ankara.
“It
is a condemnable act for Britain to let three girls ... come to Istanbul and
then let us know three days later ... They haven't taken the necessary measures,”
he said.
“The
search is ongoing. It would be great if we can find them. But if we can't, it
is not us who will be responsible, but the British.”
Turkey
said it needs faster and more detailed information from Western intelligence
agencies to intercept suspected IS recruits.
In
a statement issued on Tuesday, the Met refuted Arınç’s claims.
“Once
we established that the girls had traveled to Turkey, police made contact with
the foreign liaison officer at the Turkish Embassy in London on Wednesday, 18
February. Since
then we have been working closely with the Turkish authorities who are
providing great assistance and support to our investigation,” the
statement read.
British
police and intelligence agencies have already come under criticism for failing
to notice a public message one of the schoolgirls sent on Twitter to a known
ISIS supporter.
No comments:
Post a Comment