THREE CHARGED IN SOUTHEASTERN TURKEY ON SUSPICION OF GOING TO AL-QA’IDAH CAMP
Anadolu Agency
April 28 2009
Turkey
Van: Three people, one of them a Syrian citizen, who had been
apprehended in an operation conducted in Van on allegations that
they intended to go to Al-Qa’idah camps in Afghanistan, have been
arrested. It is stated that one of these individuals, Minur Hayal,
is a relative of Yasin Hayal, who is a suspect in an ongoing trial
for the murder of [Turkish Armenian journalist] Hrant Dink.
According to information obtained by and Anatolia correspondent,
teams from the Counter-terrorism and Intelligence Sections of the
Van Security Directorate put Minur Hayal, Ozgur Usta and Syrian
citizen Serhan Ahmed, all of whom had come from Istanbul to Van,
under surveillance.
The suspects, who sought to cross into Iran with false identity
documents and passports, boarded a minibus that was departing for
the border.
The suspects, who wanted to go to the Yuksekova district of Hakkari
Province, and from there to cross into Iran, were taken into custody
in an operation conducted against the minibus by police teams at the
exit of Kurubas village, on the road from Van to Hakkari.
Hayal, Usta, and Ahmed, who were brought before the Van Court following
two days of questioning in the Counter-terrorism Section, were charged
by the Fourth Court for Serious Crimes with "membership in a terrorist
organization" and "falsification of documents".
It is stated that, of the suspects, who it has been learned wanted
to go to Al-Qa’idah’s camps in Afghanistan, Minur Hayal is related
to Yasin Hayal, one of the suspects in the trial for the murder of
journalist Hrant Dink.