Turkish officials involved in interception of Syria-bound arms to stand trial
The top judicial body in Turkey has allowed the prosecution of eight officials involved in the interception and search of trucks that were transporting weapons into Syria last year.
According to a report published by Turkey’s Today's Zaman daily on Thursday, the 2nd Chamber of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors, also known as the HSYK, decided to permit the process after it was approved in a vote during its meeting.
The Turkish officials comprise five prosecutors and three gendarmerie commanders.
Prosecutors are now expected to start preparing an indictment against the group.
Four of the prosecutors and one of the commanders were imprisoned last month on charges of “attempting to topple or incapacitate the Turkish government through the use of force or coercion and exposing information regarding the security and political activities of the state.”
The eight officials were involved in the interception of Syria-bound weapons consignments in January 2014 in Turkey. A convoy of trucks belonging to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, also known as the MIT, loaded with arms and ammunition was stopped and searched near the Syrian border in the southern provinces of Hatay and Adana. The weapons were said to be intended for militant groups operating in Syria.
The incident triggered a huge controversy in Turkey with many bashing the government for explicitly supporting militants in Syria.
The Turkish government at the time claimed that the vehicles had been transporting humanitarian aid to Syria and denounced the interception an act of “treason and espionage.”
However, the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet recently released photos and footage of the arms, saying they were transferred to Syria in trucks operated by the MIT.
The move angered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who said Cumhuriyet’s editor-in-chief, Can Dündar, “will pay a heavy price” for his reporting. He then personally sued Dündar.
“This newspaper was also involved in this espionage activity. The person who made the story will pay a heavy price. I will not let him get away with it,” the Turkish president said.
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