The wife of Turkish national T Karaman, who was detained by the police for “activities that threaten national security”, has denied her husband’s alleged links with the Islamic State (IS) terror group.

“I learned from the news that they are accusing him with IS, (those) murderers,” said Ayse Gul Karaman as her voice broke.

Regaining her composure, Ayse told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today that the IS movement was the opposite from ideas which her husband believes in.

“His idea is to love, he is a loving person. He loves to help and he supports (US-based preacher) Fethullah Gulen’s ideas which are love, tolerance and patience.

“These are the opposite of IS. How can they accuse him with such an unreasonable thing?”

On Wednesday, inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed that Karaman and I Aslan - feared to be abducted at first - were actually detained under Section 130 of the Penal Code for activities that threaten national security. He also indicated that he did not know who Gulen was.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said the two were being probed over links to IS.

Khalid yesterday confirmed the arrest of a third Turkish national - university director Ismet Ozcelik - for allegedly “threatening public safety and order”.

Confirming that the trio nabbed knew one another, Khalid however refused to say whether they were linked to IS.

A total of 47,000 suspects are being investigated and over 100,000 civil servants have been fired as part of the wide-ranging probe into Gulen’s alleged supporters.

The Turkish government had blamed Gulen as being responsible for a coup in the country last year. The former Recep Tayyip Erdogan ally however denies any involvement in the coup.

The Turkish government has been alleged to have engaged foreign countries to help catch dissidents abroad as a result. Some of these dissidents are alleged to have links with Gulen.

Khalid however rubbished notions that the three were arrested at the request of the Turkish government, saying Malaysia had a right to take action to ensure its security.

‘He loves the ideas of love, tolerance and patience’

Meanwhile, denying that her husband was part of the Gulen movement, Ayse said her husband only likes the ideas propagated by Gulen.

"As I said, he loves the ideas of love, tolerance and patience, which every human has to have."

Asked whether she believes there was interference by the Turkish government, Ayse said she does not know whether the Turkish government would be able to influence the Malaysian government or otherwise.

“I know the Turkish government is against his ideas even though he is not connected with him (Gulen), it’s just sympathy.

“But I don’t think the Malaysian government is acting on their request,” she added.

Meanwhile, Ayse confirmed that her husband had indeed met Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

“What you are doing now, he did the same with him; interviewing him. It was for the Malaysian-Turkish Dialogue Society.

UK’s The Guardian newspaper, in an exclusive report, had ran photographs featuring Karaman with Najib.

The pictures were reportedly taken when he was the secretary-general of the Malaysian-Turkish Dialogue Society, back in 2011, and was taken from the society’s Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the third suspect’s wife, Hatice Ozcelik, also denied the allegations made against her husband.

“We don’t accept this. We are against terrorist activities and we believe that killing one person equals to killing humanity, so we don’t accept this accusation,” said Hatice in Turkish, translated by Ayse.

“We are sure that there is a big mistake the Malaysian government is doing and I’m sure they will correct this.”

Meanwhile, asked whether they were afraid that their husbands will be deported to Turkey, Ayse stressed that they did not do anything illegal.

“We are innocent. But I don’t think they will deport us. I trust the Malaysian government.

Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Office for South-East Asia has expressed “serious concern” on the arrests of the trio.

“There are concerns that these men may have been targeted over their suspected links to the Gulen movement which is accused of being behind a coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016,” said Laurent Meillan, acting regional representative of the UN Human Rights Office in Bangkok.

Previously, in October 2016, two other Turkish nationals were detained in Malaysia and were deported the following day. Both men were arrested upon their return to Turkey where they remain in detention without trial.

“We are very concerned that the three men arrested this week may face the same fate as the other two individuals deported to Turkey last year,” said Meillan.

“We urge the Malaysian government to ensure that the three men are given a fair trial in Malaysia and urge authorities not to extradite them as we have serious concerns regarding their safety if they are deported to Turkey.”