Unable to express his grief, ten-year-old Muhammad Rafael has started physically injuring himself.

Non-verbal and on the autism spectrum, Rafael expresses his sadness and confusion over his father Ihsan Aslan's sudden disappearance from his life this way, his mother Ainnurul Aisyah Yunos said.

Aslan, a Turkish national, was arrested on May 2 for alleged links to terrorism alongside two of his countrymen.

"They (the children) are different, they miss their father. Especially the oldest who cannot speak.

"When he is sad he shows it by acting aggressively. He hits his face, he bites his fingers and his body.

"At night, he will sit by the window and fall asleep on the sofa because he cannot express himself any other way, but I know how he feels," Ainnurul said, kissing and hugging her eldest child.

Tearfully, Ainnurul, 35, said she had to make up stories to tell the children about their father's fate.

She tells them their father is at work, and that he is overseas and will return soon, but none will dissuade the children that something is wrong.

"They ask me where their babah is, and I say he has gone to work but they then ask why he hasn't called. I tell them he is very busy, that he is overseas and that he will return in a week's time. Then my children start crying," the mother-of-three said.

In fact, Ainnurul herself has yet to be granted access to Ihsan since his arrest under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) last Tuesday.

She hopes she will be able to meet him this Thursday, after sending a letter appealing to police to let her see her husband, whom she believes is held at Bukit Aman.

"I am appealing to police to release him," she said, wiping away tears.

Sosma allows detention without trial for up to 28 days.

The arrests sparked fears of a cracked down against anti-Erdogan elements in Malaysia, but police said they were nabbed for terrorism.

Police confirmed the arrests the day after a report was lodged fearing abduction.

Turgay Karaman, 47, was seen bundled into a car by four men on the day of the arrest, according CCTV footage supplied to Malaysiakini. 

Aslan was arrested the same day.

IS links not confirmed

Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said they have links to Islamic State but police did not confirm this.

The third Turkish national - university director Ismet Ozcelik - was arrested for allegedly “threatening public safety and order”.

Karaman's wife denied the IS claims.

“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?” Ayse Gul Karaman said.

Karaman, who is a headmaster of an international school in Perak, has lived in Malaysia for 14 years, and attended a dialogue session with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in 2011.

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 denied 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.