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ROME (AP) — Two armed Turkish men were arrested in the central
Italian city of Viterbo, near Rome, hours before a popular local
festival, Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni said Thursday.
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 Wednesday’s celebration, which was
attended by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. Police in
Viterbo were not immediately available to 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.
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