PRIME Minister Najib Razak held a meeting with Turgay Karaman, one of two Turkish men detained on Tuesday over alleged links to Islamic State.

Najib met Karaman, then secretary-general of the Malaysian-Turkish Dialogue Society, before his first official trip to Turkey in 2011, the Guardian revealed, quoting the society’s Facebook page.

Karaman and Ihsan Aslan were arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act, which allows police to detain them for 28 days, in a move that raised concerns about Malaysia acting on possible pressure from Ankara.

A third Turkish man, academic Ismet Ozcelik was arrested on Thursday.

A photograph from the Najib-Karaman meeting shows Najib alongside wife Rosmah Mansor and Karaman, who is wearing a suit and smiling. Another shows Karaman interviewing Najib, the Guardian said.

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Karaman and others were being investigated for “spreading, influencing and funding” Isis-linked activities.

Karaman was the principal of an international school that promotes critical thinking.

His social media accounts promote books on topics from Turkish cuisine to Sufism. He follows a global networking group for the LGBT community and their allies.

Footage of Karaman’s arrest shows four men in casual clothing escorting Karaman through a car park with his hands tied behind his back.

The footage sparked outrage from Turkish dissident websites, who initially feared Karaman may have been kidnapped by Turkish agents or their proxies in Malaysia, the Guardian added.

They fear he could be forced to return to Turkey, where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been cracking down on anyone suspected of even distant links to his detractors. – May 6, 2017.