 |
‘MİT officials mislead police on abduction of Syrian defector’
Syrians Col. Hussein Harmush and Maj. Mustafa Kassum, who escaped from the Syrian government’s brutal crackdown on protesters and dissidents, suddenly disappeared towards the end of August from a refugee camp located in Altınözü, a district in the southern province of Hatay, near the Syrian border.
As the Adana Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had formally charged five suspects, one of whom was a MİT regional official, for their supposed role in handing over Harmush and Kassum to Syrian security forces, it appeared that MİT was deeply involved in the abduction. The suspects were sent to prison, where they face charges of political espionage.
Media coverage recently shed some light on the incident, although most of it still remains murky and complicated, especially regarding MİT’s role.
According to a report from the Akşam daily on Tuesday, before the abduction of Harmush, MİT issued a warning to the police that Harmush was planning to escape from the camp.
In a confidential note sent to the Hatay Police Department, the MİT Hatay regional office stated that verifiable intelligence indicated that Harmush was planning to escape to Gaziantep. However, on the day of the abduction, MİT official Ö.S. took Harmush from the camp in a car belonging to MİT and went to Samandağı Çevlik on the Mediterranean coast, where the colonel was turned over to Syrian officials. Another car carrying Harmush’s phone was sent to Gaziantep in order to misdirect the police, the daily noted.
By doing this, MİT aimed to make the police think that Harmush was going to Gaziantep. MİT officials knew that police would follow Harmush’s phone signals because of the note they sent about Harmush’s alleged escape plans, the daily reported. Police discovered the truth when they stopped the car in Gaziantep.
Meanwhile, according to media claims, Ö.S. went to Syria on Feb. 3 to get $100,000 from the Syrians as part of the deal. However, Uğur Buğra Tanır, Ö.S.’s lawyer, denied the claims and noted that, despite conducting an extensive search in the suspect’s house and car, police could not find such a large amount of money, in remarks to the Akşam daily on Tuesday. Police only found $8,000 in their search of the car belonging to Ö.S.
The unanticipated disappearance of Col. Harmush and Major Kassum on Aug. 28 created questions about the safety of Syrian refugees. Harmush was of one the founders of the Free Syrian Army, which organized the rebels who effectively resisted Bashar al-Assad’s troops.
Recently Harmush appeared on Syrian state television and pleaded guilty, saying that he committed violent acts against Assad’s rule.
Özgür-Der head urges gov’t to explain abduction case
In a written statement released to the media on Tuesday, Rıdvan Kaya, the president of the Freedom Association (Özgür-Der), urged the government to clear the air surrounding the incident, especially the degree to which MİT was involved in handing over Harmush to Syrian officials. Kaya called on the world to take bold action against the brutality of the Baath regime in Syria. He also argued that the government cannot deem the Harmush case an ordinary illegal act, saying that such negligence is a crime against humanity and the Syrian people.
According to Kaya, it is not logical to believe that Ö.S. was involved in this bargain just to earn $100,000. He believes MİT was engaged in the whole process from the very beginning. When the case appeared in the media, Ö.S. became a scapegoat and the only person responsible for this dirty business. Blaming Ö.S. served to cover up the role of the organization, he noted in the statement.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BÜLENT KENEŞ |  |
||
| What befell Niyazi-i Misri in the past is happening to Fethullah Gülen now | |||
| EKREM DUMANLI |  |
||
| When a call for fairness and reason finds acceptance | |||
| ŞAHİN ALPAY |  |
||
| Uludere, test case for democracy in Turkey | |||
| EMRE USLU |  |
||
| Are the Kurds mentally divorced from Turkey? | |||
| GÖKHAN BACIK |  |
||
| Erdoğan, Gül and Davutoğlu: the inner bargain on Turkish foreign policy | |||
| MARKAR ESAYAN |  |
||
| Taking lessons from previous experiences with the military | |||
| YAVUZ BAYDAR |  |
||
| Qualm | |||
| ÖMER TAŞPINAR |  |
||
| A new phase in Syria? | |||
| İHSAN DAĞI |  |
||
| Turkish foreign policy: Time for a re-evaluation | |||
| SEYFETTİN GÜRSEL |  |
||
| Poor-friendly economic growth and the AK Party | |||
| CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON |  |
||
| Missing women, missing opportunities | |||
| BERK ÇEKTİR |  |
||
| Changes to incentives for investment in Turkey | |||
| MERVE BÜŞRA ÖZTÜRK |  |
||
| The 1960 coup: a final test for democracy | |||
| AMANDA PAUL |  |
||
| Ukraine: a lost country | |||
| MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE |  |
||
| The 52nd anniversary of May 27 | |||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
