The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has intervened in the case of a Turkish national arrested in Argentina on charges of organized crime a local newspaper reported.
According to a report by Serdar Ozturk from the a3haber news website, Serkan Kurtulus had earlier admitted after he was arrested in Argentina that he was asked by a Turkish politician to assassinate an American Pastor whom Turkey jailed over trumped-up charges.
Ankara jailed Pastor Andrew Brunson for 593 days over being a member of the Gulen movement, which Erdogan government deems the orchestrator of the July 15 abortive coup.
During interviews with media, Serkan Kurtulus said he was managing a criminal group’s armed wing based in Izmir, blackmailing business people by asking money to “clear their names” from charges related to being a “member of the Gulen movement.”
Having been sued for numerous illegal actions, Kurtulus was detained by the Argentine Federal Police’s Interpol Branch on June 11, 2020, and put in the Unidad 28 Prison.
A court rejected Kurtuluş’s application for release to the Federal Court of Appeals 2nd Chamber. Kurtuluş is waiting for the decision of the Argentina court in line with Turkey’s extradition request. Kurtuluş also reportedly applied for political asylum to the Argentine authorities.
Kurtulus spoke out from prison
Speaking to Federico Fahsbender from Infobae newspaper by phone, Serkan Kurtuluş said that the former Izmir municipality Vice President of the ruling AKP and the AKP Izmir Deputy Nükhet Hotar, the president of 9 Eylül University, offered him to assassinate American Priest Brunson. He said he did not accept it.
Later, Kurtuluş, who talked to a journalist named Said Sefa by phone from prison, gave more details about the “plot” of the American pastor’s alleged assassination
“They asked me to find someone to do the job. They even asked me to rent a house. A house was rented, some books were placed in the house. They wanted the boy to stay there for a while. They probably wanted him to leave fingerprints, to give the impression that he was living there. Of course, I did not accept this; I kept them busy in vain. Killing an American is a grave crime. I could not say no, I stalled off. They would probably kill the person who was to commit the assassination. Just like the Russian ambassador was assassinated in Ankara. They would also show the house after killing the perpetrator and lay the blame on the Gulen movement.”
The plan put up in the office
Serkan Kurtuluş also claimed that they held the meetings about the assassination in Ahmet Kurtuluş’s office in general. He explained the purpose of the action as “They wanted to put this on Gulenists by carrying out sensational acts especially in İzmir. They also wanted to drive a wedge between Americans and Gulenists; they were planning it.
They aimed to throw this incident on the congregation, and they wanted America to recognize the Gulen movement as a terrorist organization. They wanted to reflect this to the world public opinion. They organized this work in every detail. They also believed that it would come true.”
The FBI had previously detained Hakan Atilla, former Deputy General Manager of Halk Bank, during his entry into the United States, accused of violating the US embargo on Iran and was subsequently arrested and sued.
According to the reports in the Argentine media, the FBI, which has the authority to fight terrorism, counter-espionage, and crime investigation, contacted the Argentine government through the United States Department of Justice based on Kurtuluş’s statements.
Local reports said the FBI wanted to interrogate him, but the Argentinian officials have not yet decided on an FBI investigation method.
According to the reports, the officials keep the option of giving asylum to Kurtulmus and release him so that the FBI could have his testimony on his request.
Brunson case sparked an international crisis
Andrew Craig Brunson was prosecuted for aiding the Gülen group and asked for up to 35 years.
A Turkish court sentenced him to three years one month and 15 days in prison. The charge was “Knowingly and willingly aiding a terrorist organization without being included in the organization’s hierarchical structure.”
Upon the decision’s appeal, the Supreme Court Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office sent the file to the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals and asked for the penalty to be upheld.
Brunson, sparking a crisis between the US and Turkey, went to the United States after being released and met with President Trump
The post FBI probing alleged plot to assassinate American Pastor in Turkey appeared first on Turkish Minute.
from Turkish Minute https://www.turkishminute.com/2020/08/26/fbi-probing-alleged-plot-to-assassinate-american-pastor-in-turkey/
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder