A leading member of Sinn Féin and a number of former IRA prisoners have been detained by police in Turkey.
Mr Alex Maskey, MLA, the party’s chief whip in the Stormont Assembly, was among a group of republicans held in the capital Istanbul.
Other members of Sinn Féin and former IRA prisoners were held for more than an hour before being released.
The group are in Turkey on a fact-finding mission about a hunger strike by left wing militants during which dozens of people have died.
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Sinn Féin has staged a number of demonstrations in Belfast in support of the hunger strikers and last month unveiled a mural showing solidarity with those staging the fast.
AP