The two students, DP from Demak, Central Java and YU from Aceh, were arrested by local authorities on Aug. 11, the Foreign Ministry's Indonesian citizen protection director Lalu Muhammad Iqbal said. The Indonesian Embassy in Ankara has carried out efforts to provide protection for the two students, he added.

A day after the arrest, embassy officials went to the Bursa police to ask for consulate access. Indonesian officials also delivered a note to the Turkish Foreign Ministry asking for clarification over the arrests.

The officials visited the Bursa District Court on Aug 16 to meet with prosecutors in anticipation of the case proceeding to court. The embassy has made sure the students are provided lawyers. Their families have also been informed of the arrests, Iqbal said.

The ministry has not obtained official details on the charges against the two students but received reports that DP and YU were initially not targeted for arrest.

"However, when security personnel arrested people in a house managed by the Gülen Institute, the two students were inside the house and said they lived there, Iqbal said.

Prior to the arrests, Indonesian students had been questioned by local authorities amid tightening security in Turkey aimed to forestall any future attempts to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Following a failed coup in July, the Turkish government has cracked down on people and companies suspected of having links to the US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen. (rin)

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