DUSHANBE, April 4, 2015, Asia-Plus – Turkish news agency Anadolu reports seven foreigners, including two Tajik nationals, have been detained in Turkey after allegedly trying to enter Syria illegally.

Turkish news agency Anadolu reports that a statement released by Gaziantep''s governorship on Friday says seven foreigners and a Turkish citizen were taken into custody on April 1 after trying to illegally cross into Syria from southern Turkey.

Officials added that the foreign detainees - one from Uzbekistan, two from Tajikistan, and four Russian nationals - were now forbidden to travel outside the country.  A court also ordered the arrest of the Turkish citizen.

We will recall that Tajik police said last month they have detained a 25-year-old Tajik woman who was allegedly planning to take a bus from Turkey to Syria to join Islamic State militants.

Tajik Interior Ministry said on March 10 that Shahnoza Bozorzoda, a medical student, was detained in Istanbul by Tajik authorities after she called a friend in Dushanbe to tell him about her intention to join the extremist group.  Tajik national television broadcast a report on March 10 that showed her acknowledging that she had traveled to Turkey and had been in contact for months with a Tajik man alleged to be fighting in Syria.  Authorities say Bozorzoda was "radicalized" by the alleged fighter through social networking sites and Viber mobile-phone messages.

In a statement delivered at a seminar in Dushanbe, Tajik Interior Minister revealed on April 2 that more than 200 Tajik nationals are currently in the ranks of Islamic State (IS) militants fighting in Syria.