Russia says no reliable information on Russians involved in Istanbul airport attack

The Kremlin said on Wednesday there was no reliable information on Russian nationals' involvement in the recent deadly attacks on Istanbul Ataturk Airport.

Turkish media reported Monday that Turkish police detained overnight one Russian and one Kyrgyz national with suspected links to the Islamic State (IS) in relation to the triple suicide attacks on June 28 that left 45 people dead and more than 200 others injured.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Turkish authorities blamed them on the IS, Xinhua news agency reported.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged more cooperation including information sharing on countering international terrorism, saying that some terrorist attacks including the recent attack at Istanbul's airport could be prevented.

"For many years, the Russian side has handed over information through channels in various services, including intelligence services, both to Turkish and European colleagues, that persons suspected of intending to join terrorist groups can be hiding on the territory of Turkey, as well as a number of other European countries," Peskov said.

"Most often, these signals from the Russian side have not received proper attention or any sort of reactions from our colleagues," Peskov told reporters.

He said that Russia had consistently supported cooperation between all states in fighting terrorism, which was a universal threat. No country could stop its spread alone, he said.

Russia and Turkey have started mending ties after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presented on the eve of the airport attack apologies to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for a Russian jet downed by Turkey in November last year.

--IANS

lok/