| BBC News | - |
Three young British men who were stopped from travelling to Syria from Turkey and arrested have been released on bail, the Metropolitan Police says.
London teenagers stopped from entering Syria 'after parents raised alarm'
Two 17-year-olds and 19-year-old suspected of planning to join
Islamic State in Syria bailed after being questioned on return to
Britain
The three – two 17-year-old boys and a 19-year-old man, all from north-west London – were arrested on their return to London on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts. They will be questioned again in May under the terms of their bail, the Metropolitan police said.
According to the Times, the teenagers were stopped from reaching Syria in part because of a swift warning from the parents of the two 17-year-olds. They immediately raised the alarm after the boys, from a Pakistani community in Brent, went missing after Friday prayers.
It also emerged that the three suspects travelled to Turkey via a flight from Luton airport to Barcelona in an apparent attempt to evade detection. They were arrested at Istanbul’s second airport, Sabiha Gökçen, after arriving on a flight from Barcelona, it was reported.
The Met said: “On Friday 13 March officers from the counter-terrorism command were made aware that two 17-year-old boys from north-west London had gone missing and were believed to be travelling to Syria. Inquiries revealed that they had travelled with a third male aged 19.
“Officers alerted the Turkish authorities who were able to intercept all three males, preventing travel to Syria.”
The speedy action of the authorities to thwart the teenagers contrasts with the case of the missing east London schoolgirls who travelled to Syria via Turkey last month. The families of Shamima Begum, 15, Kadiza Sultana, 16, and Amira Abase, 15, also alerted the police on the day they went missing, but they managed to reach Syria despite a public appeal for their return.
A police claim that they immediately contacted the Turkish authorities on hearing that girls were missing has been disputed by Ankara.
On Monday, the police announced they were launching a campaign aimed at thwarting Isis attempts to recruit young women from Britain.
Police said 22 women and girls have disappeared in the past year and are believed to have gone to Syria. The new police campaign focuses on mothers and encourages them “to have open discussions with their daughters about issues such as travelling to Syria and what they are viewing online”.
The new campaign, which includes a radio advert, focuses on the “strong bond” between mothers and daughters, encouraging them “to have open discussions with their daughters about issues such as travelling to Syria and what they are viewing online.”
“The option of returning home is often taken away from them, leaving families at home devastated and with very few options to secure a safe return for their loved one.”
The Met have been criticised by the families of the east London schoolgirls who fled to Syria in February for their handling of their cases. They say police failed to pass on crucial information which may have alerted them to the fact a school friend of their daughters had week earlier been lured by Isis to travel to Syria.
The Turkish government has also criticised British authorities for being too slow to pass on details abut the arrival of the three London girls and their intention to cross the border into Syria. The new police campaign includes leaflets telling parents what and where they can get help, and a website, billed as a “one-stop-shop for concerned families” worried their children are at risk of wanting to disappear to join Isis.
Two months earlier, one of their school friends, Sharmeena Begum, also 15, had run away from her home in Bethnal Green to travel to an Isis-controlled part of Syria. It is understood that, in early December 2014, Sharmeena flew out of the UK from Gatwick airport to Istanbul, and then travelled by road across Turkey to its border with Syria.
Since the three schoolgirls went missing, Turkish authorities have been under increased pressure to intercept British nationals travelling through Turkey in order to join Isis fighters in Syria.
In a joint statement, the families said: “With respect to the disappearance of our children we have been disappointed by the handling of this matter by the school, Met police and the local authority, all of whom we feel failed to act appropriately and pass on vital information to us or indeed between each other.
“Had we been made aware of circumstances sooner, we ourselves could have taken measures to stop the girls from leaving the UK.”
Under pressure from the US, Turkey has increased border security, trying to prevent smuggling and tightening rules for Syrian refugees trying to enter the country. According to one diplomatic source in Ankara, the Turkish police have stepped up efforts to stop foreign nationals crossing the border into Syria.
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