Nine Turkish citizens were charged in Greece with terrorism-related offences on Wednesday, accused of hoarding explosives and of links to an outlawed militant organization responsible for suicide bombings in Turkey, Reuters reported.

The arrest of eight men and a woman in early-morning raids at three locations in central Athens on Tuesday came days before an expected state visit by Tayyip Erdogan, the first by a Turkish president to Greece in 65 years. Greece says the two events are unrelated.

Police officials said they were being questioned for alleged links to the leftist DHKP/C, a far-left group blamed for a string of attacks and suicide bombings in Turkey since 1990.

Their lawyer said the individuals, who have not been named, were ‘struggling against a fascist regime’ and had denied any wrongdoing.

They were charged with setting up and being members of a criminal organization, terrorist-related acts of supply and possession of explosive materials, illegal possession of firearms, smoke bombs and fire crackers, court sources said.

The individuals, escorted handcuffed into a central Athens court wearing bullet proof vests, have not entered a formal plea.

“They are refugees,” lawyer Alexandra Zorbala said. “Some have sought, others have received asylum ... they are fighters who are struggling against a fascist regime, against torture and thousands of arrests.”