DUSHANBE, May 4, 2015, Asia-Plus -- A 50-year-old Turkish national Mehdi Yakush has reportedly been arrested in Dushanbe on suspicion of recruiting Tajik citizens to join militants in Syria and Iraq.

The public relations center of the State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan (SCNS) reports that Mr. Mehdi Yakush arrived in Tajikistan in the guise of a tourist on March 16 this year.

Gaining confidence of four Uzbek-speaking residents of the village of Navbunyod in the Roudkai district – Abduvohid Pardayev, 28, his sister Bibiruqiya, 27, Orif Mahmadiyev, 25, and Amonullo Iskandarov, 20, Yakush reportedly promised them high paid jobs in Turkey.

Yakush proposed them to become employed in an area bordering Syria and Iraq, the SCNS public relations center reported, noting that Abduvohid Pardayev and his sister Bibiruqiya Pardayeva even sold part of their property in order to buy air tickets to Turkey.

Criminal proceedings have been instituted and an investigation is under way, the source said.