News / Turkey

Turkish MP jailed for exposing Ankara’s arms aid to Syria militants

Tuesday, 13 February 2018 4:02 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 13 February 2018 4:02 PM ]

Enis Berberoglu, a Turkish lawmaker from the opposition Republican People's Party

A court in Turkey has sentenced a legislator from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) to five years and 10 months in jail for leaking classified material, and exposing to a newspaper a video showing weapons shipment to parts of Syria held by foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists.

The court passed the verdict on Enis Berberoglu, who is currently being held at Istanbul’s Maltepe Prison, on Tuesday.

He was convicted on charges of “revealing information that should remain a secret for the sake of the state's security.”

Prosecutor Mehmet Yesilkaya had initially sought life term for Berberoglu. A regional appeals court in Istanbul, however, quashed the conviction and in October ordered a retrial.

Back in May 2015, Cumhuriyet daily posted on its website footage showing Turkish security forces in early 2014 intercepting a convoy of trucks carrying arms for the militants in Syria.

A screen grab from a video published on the website of the Turkish *Cumhuriyet* daily on May 29, 2015 shows mortar shells in boxes intercepted on a truck destined for Syria.

The paper said the trucks were carrying some 1,000 mortar shells, hundreds of grenade launchers and more than 80,000 rounds of ammunition for light and heavy weapons.

Ankara denied the allegation and claimed that the trucks had been carrying humanitarian aid to Syria. However, Berberoglu defended the video, saying it was genuine.

Two prominent Cumhuriyet journalists were among other defendants in the case. Can Dundar and Erdem Gul were sentenced to at least five years in jail for revealing what was said to be state secrets.

The men were acquitted of espionage charges, which could have led to life sentences.

Turkey stands accused of supporting Takfiri militant groups fighting to topple the Damascus government since March 2011.

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