Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

A third Turkish national has been arrested in Malaysia, the man's lawyer said on May 5, after two others were taken into custody this week, with officials saying that the arrestees posed threat to national security.

Turkish academic İsmet Özçelik was arrested on May 4, his lawyer Rosli Dahlan told Agence France-Presse, adding that no official reasons were provided by authorities.

Two Turkish nationals arrested in Malaysia are being held on suspicion of funding the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Kuala Lumpur said May 4, contradicting a state-run Anadolu Agency report which a day earlier claimed the suspects were members of the Gülen network, widely believed to have orchestrated last year's coup attempt.   

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, stung by allegations that he received some $700 million in government money, on July 28 fired the attorney general who had been investigating him and a deputy who has been among his most prominent critics.