TASHKENT -- The Uzbek Prosecutor-General's Office has distanced itself from the reported arrest of noted Uzbek journalist and film director Abdukarim Mirzaev in Turkey, saying it is not pursuing him for any reason.

The office said on December 20 that Mirzaev is not a suspect or a person of interest in any investigation and therefore he is not a wanted person in the Central Asian nation.

A day earlier, reports in Uzbekistan said that 38-year-old Mirzaev, a postgraduate student at Kastamonu University in Turkey's northern city of Kastamonu, had been arrested on unspecified charges on December 11.

Mirzaev worked as a journalist at several popular radio stations and television channels and has produced about 20 documentaries.

In recent years, Mirzaev has used his YouTube channel to discuss issues related to religious and social issues.

He is married and has three children.