Kobani
Smoke rises from a village on the outskirts of the Syrian town of Kobani, seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

Arab prayers written on the aircraft engines operated by Turkish Airlines have stoked tensions after officials mistook them for warnings from Isis (Islamic State).

As soon as the airlines staff found there were messages on several aircraft engines, they alerted the authorities at Istanbul's main Ataturk airport.

Tensions increased when authorities found more such aircraft with Arab script written on them, according to Turkey's airporthaber.com.

The police have found at least three such aircraft with similar Arabic script. Investigators concluded in the probe that the messages were prayers seeking blessings and fertility, and not propaganda messages sent out by the Sunni insurgent group Isis as feared.

However, the police could not identify who wrote those on the aircraft's engines.

Related
Isis Turkey Syria Iraq