Turkish police arrest IS suspects over 'LGBT rally plot'

Turkish authorities have arrested three suspected Islamic State (IS) militants in a probe into a planned attack on a transgender rights rally last weekend, a report said on Wednesday.

The three, comprising one Turkish national and two men from Russia's volatile Caucasus region of Dagestan, were detained in raids on Friday and remanded in custody by a court on Tuesday, the Dogan news agency said.

Items including suicide belts packed with explosives, camouflage gear and military knives were seized by the authorities, it added.

The three had been planning to attack a rally around Istanbul's Taksim Square promoting transgender rights.

The gathering took place on Sunday but was broken up by police. Friday's raids were conducted in the Istanbul districts of Basaksehir and Pendik after police recieved a tip-off.

The Istanbul authorities had broken up the transgender rally after banning that event as well as a larger gay pride rally planned for the coming Sunday.

Riot police fired tear gas and plastic bullets after transgender right activists gathered in defiance of the ban.

Turkish authorities had cited security reasons and safeguarding public order as the reason for the ban, which came after ultra-nationalist group Alperen Hearths warned they would not allow "degenerates" to hold events on Turkish soil.

"To our state officials: do not make us deal with this. Either do what is needed or we will do it. We will take any risks, we will directly prevent the march," the group's Istanbul provincial head, Kursat Mican, said.

"Degenerates will not be allowed to carry out their fantasies on this land ... We're not responsible for what will happen after this point," he said, citing a Turkish proverb: "if you're not taught by experience, you're taught by a beating."

While homosexuality is not a crime in Turkey unlike many other Muslim countries, homophobia remains widespread.

The arrests of the three suspected IS militants comes after Istanbul has twice been hit this year by deadly attacks blamed on the group.

A blast in Istanbul's historic centre in January killed a dozen German tourists while an attack on the Istiklal Street shopping hub in March killed three Israelis and an Iranian.