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Turkey arrests 4 prosecutors for halting arms transfer to Syria

File photo shows Turkish special forces in the port city of Istanbul ©AFP

A Turkish court has ordered the arrest of four prosecutors and a former senior commander for attempting early last year to search the trucks belonging to National Intelligence Agency (MIT) that carried weapons to Takfiri militants in neighboring Syria.

The arrests came on Wednesday following a court order over a controversial case in which the prosecutors and the commander are charged with ordering the halt and search of several trucks and buses in the southern provinces of Hatay and Adana near the Syrian border in January 2014 on suspicion of transporting weaponry to anti-Damascus militants.

The controversy erupted on January 19, 2014 when Turkish forces stopped the Syria-bound trucks suspected to have been loaded with arms, but they then found MIT personnel were on board.

A series of documents were later posted on the Internet showing that the trucks confiscated by the provincial authorities belonged to the MIT on a mission to deliver arms and ammunition to the militants operating against the Syrian government.

Turkish media said the five were charged with attempting to “topple or incapacitate” the Ankara government through use of force or obtaining and leaking national security information.

Police authorities arrested two of the accused prosecutors, Suleyman Bagriyanik and Ozcan Sisman, on Wednesday at their residences in the cities of Antalya and Adana.

Two other prosecutors, Aziz Takci and Ahmet Karaca, remain at large, according to local media reports. They will all receive life sentence if convicted, the reports say.

The Turkish court also upheld the demand of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) for the arrest of colonel Ozkan Cokay since he was the highest-ranking commander in the region at the time, local press reports added. 

“We witnessed a night when law went bankrupt and courtesy was turned upside down,” Bagriyanik, stated after his arrest by the police, adding, “No matter what, everyone will see the reality.”

He said, “I am being detained right now just because I did not listen to Mr. Minister’s ‘Do not search trucks’ order and threats, and did not stop my colleagues from doing so. What more can I say?” 

Ankara has been among the staunch supporters of the Takfiri terrorists operating to overthrow the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since March 2011.

MFB/MKA/SS


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