Turkish court hears call for lawmaker to be jailed

By Murat Kaya

ISTANBUL

A prosecutor in Istanbul on Wednesday called for a Turkish opposition lawmaker to be jailed for life over an alleged breach of national security.

A hearing in the trial of former journalist and current Republican People’s Party (CHP) parliamentarian Enis Berberoglu was held at Istanbul’s 14th High Criminal Court.

Prosecutor Mehmet Yesilkaya accused Berberoglu of “providing confidential information and documents of the state, which must be kept secret by the state, and undertaking political or military espionage”.

According to the prosecutor's indictment, Berberoglu had given a memory card to Can Dundar, former editor-in-chief of Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, which contained images purporting to show arms being transported to Syria in 2014 in trucks belonging to Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT).

, who published the images in the newspaper in 2015, has also been accused of violating Turkey’s national security laws.

Wednesday’s case focuses on the MIT vehicles which were stopped in Adana, southern Turkey, by local gendarmerie on the grounds they were loaded with ammunition, despite a national security law forbidding such a search.

Yesilkaya also demanded prison sentences of up to 15 years for aiding a terrorist organization and supplying confidential state information.

Since last year, Berberoglu has also been investigated for possible links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO). Hearings into both allegations, which have been combined into a single case, were held today in the Istanbul court.

According to Turkey’s government, FETO leader Gulen -- a resident of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania -- masterminded the 15 July 2016 defeated coup, which left at least 248 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara has also said FETO is behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, and judiciary.