ANKARA
Turkey’s interior minister has said that there was no specific entry ban for Hayat Boumeddiene, partner of Amedy Coulibaly, the gunman who killed four hostages at a supermarket in Paris last week.
"There was no a specific entry ban for Hayat Boumeddiene as French officials did not notify us about her," Efkan Ala told reporters in Ankara on Monday.
Turkish intelligence services and security units are communicating with the French authorities, Ala added.
French media have claimed that Boumeddiene, dubbed “France’s most wanted woman”, is in Syria, having travelled there before last week’s deadly attacks.
Ala's remarks came hours after Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Boumeddiene arrived in Turkey from Madrid on Jan. 2, stayed at a hotel in Istanbul and went to Syria on Jan. 8.
Ala also responded to controversial comments from Australian-American media tycoon Rupert Murdoch in the aftermath of the France shootings.
“Islam is a religion of peace,” Ala said to a question on certain tweets posted by Murdoch.
Murdoch had tweeted: “Maybe most Moslems peaceful, but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer they must be held responsible.”
"We refuse to use even ‘Islam’ and ‘terrorism’ in the same sentence. We will not allow Islam to be remembered with Islamic terrorist methods," Ala said.
The minister said terrorism has become the primary issue for the world and called for international cooperation in fighting global terrorism.
"Turkey condemns all terror and violent acts," he added, viewing terrorism as an issue for humanity.
Twelve people were killed last Wednesday in the attack by masked gunmen at the Paris headquarters of “Charlie Hebdo,” a satirical magazine known for printing offensive material, including cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in 2006 and 2012.
The two suspected gunmen, brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, were killed on Friday in a warehouse in Dammartin-en-Goele, a small town north of Paris.
On the same day, four hostages and Coulibaly – said to be linked to the Kouachi brothers – died inside a kosher supermarket in Paris.
