Istanbul attacks suspect charged
A Turkish court has charged another suspect in connection with the bombings of British and Jewish interests in Istanbul in November.
Anatolia news agency reported on Friday that Ahmet Demir, detained on 26 December, was remanded in custody on Friday after being charged with membership of a criminal organisation.
He was “not directly linked to the bomb attacks” but had ties with Harun Ilhan, the suspected mastermind behind the attacks on two synagogues, the British consulate and a British bank.
Ilhan has been accused of seeking to overthrow Turkey’s constitutional order after allegedly admitting under questioning that a foreign cruise liner had also been a target.
Al-Qaida
But he said the plan had been abandoned because it was too difficult to organise, according to Anatolia.
Also on 26 December, Turkish authorities announced they had “put out of action” the group behind the Istanbul attacks in which 62 people died and hundreds more were injured.
They say the group is linked to Usama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network, although the claim is not proven.
So far 45 people out of 160 held for questioning have been charged in the ongoing judicial investigation.