UPDATE - Turkish officials lambaste French detention of children

CHANGES HEADLINE, SPOT, LEDE, BYLINE; ADDS QUOTE FROM FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIAL

By Burak Bir and Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish officials are condemning the French police detention this week of four elementary school children on false allegations of "justifying terrorism."

"This is banditry via the state” which “must be accounted for under the rules of law," Mustafa Sentop, the speaker of Turkey’s parliament, told a news conference in Istanbul on Saturday.

On recent remarks and moves by French officials against Islam and Muslims, Sentop added that these developments are worrying all Muslims worldwide.

Yavuz Selim Kiran, the deputy foreign minister, also condemned the detention and vowed to follow up on it.

"What state mentality detains 10-year-old children with long-barreled guns, raiding their homes and interrogating them for hours?” Kiran said on Twitter.

“We strongly condemn this inhumane practice against our citizens in Albertville, France. We are closely following the matter."

On Thursday, four 10-year-old children were held in police detention for more than 11 hours in Albertville, southeastern France, on false allegations of "justifying terrorism," according to interviews with their parents.

"Ten masked policemen carrying long-barreled guns entered the house" and woke up his sleeping daughter, said the father of E.Y., one of the children.

They took her to the police station and “terrorized” her with hours of questioning, he said.

The girl remains shaken by the incident, he added.