Police arrest 2 armed Turkish men ahead of a popular Italian festival near Rome

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ROME (AP) — Two armed Turkish men were being questioned Thursday after being arrested in Viterbo, near Rome, hours before a popular local festival, Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni said.

Meloni praised police and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi for their “swift intervention” leading to the arrests on Wednesday night, which she said “allowed for the safe celebration of a unique event.”

Italian media reported that the two men were suspected of preparing an attack during the celebration, which was attended by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

Police in Viterbo did not comment on the motive of the arrests or the media reports of a possible attack.

Thousands of people attend Viterbo’s Macchina di Santa Rosa festival, a religious procession and celebration held every year on Sept. 3 to honor the city’s patron saint, Santa Rosa. The main event involves 100 “Facchini di Santa Rosa,” porters carrying a towering, illuminated structure called the “Macchina,” which weighs nearly 5 tons, through the city’s narrow medieval streets.

In recent months, Turkish authorities have conducted major operations against Turkish crime groups operating abroad in cooperation with European police.

In April, coordinated raids in Turkey and several European countries led to 234 arrests for drug trafficking and money laundering, and the seizure of over 21 tons of drugs.

In May 2024, a joint task force of Italian law enforcement and Interpol forces raided an apartment in the Viterbo hamlet of Bagnaia and arrested the alleged Turkish mafia boss Bariş Boyun, one of Ankara’s most wanted men.