TEHRAN Fifteen members of the Hizb-ul-Tahrir Organization were detained in the Adana Province in southern Turkey on Monday night, according to some reports from Ankara.

A statement released by the local Governor's Office said that one of the detainees was in charge of the provincial office of the Hizb-ul-Tahrir Organization.

The statement added that the unlawful organization was linked to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and Jordan and aimed to overthrow the Turkish secular system and establish a caliphate instead.

The members of the organization had published leaflets in which they condemned U.S. attacks on Afghanistan, the statement further said.

The Turkish security forces had arrested 168 Turkish nationals in early 2000 on charges of having links to Hizb-ul-Tahrir Organization.

According to Turkish press, the organization was founded in Jordan in 1953, a branch of which is active in Turkey.