Israel Indicts Turkish Woman for Allegedly Smuggling Funds to Hamas

An Israeli military court has indicted a Turkish national for allegedly smuggling funds to a terrorist group, reported to be Hamas.

Agents arrested Ebru Ozkan at the airport in Tel Aviv June 11 as she was getting ready to fly back to Turkey.

Her lawyer told Reuters that Ozkan was denied access to an attorney during much of her stay in jail and that police did not interrogate her in Turkish, leading to confusing answers to their questions.

Israeli agents say Ozkah is suspected of “posing a threat to national security and for having links to a terrorist organization.”

They did not specify which group, but Israeli newspapers say it is Hamas.

The case has cast an even darker pall over what had been longtime friendly ties between Turkey and Israel.

“For genuine normalization of our relations, Israel should end its wrong policies and its inhumane cruelty,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Turkey’s Anadolu news agency.

He threatened retaliation against Israel, but did not say what Turkey plans to do.

Israel has arrested other Turkish citizens this year for what it says were security threats.

Turkey has strongly criticized Israeli wars against the Hamas-ruled Gaza. Both countries also recalled a number of diplomats from each other’s capitals in May. Turkey condemned Israel for the deaths of more than 60 Palestinians during protests along the Gaza border fence.

 

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