Turkey angry as Israel charges tourist with aiding Hamas
Tehran (KNA) - Israel military prosecutors have charged a jailed Turkish tourist with helping transfer money and packages to the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, in a case that has prompted Ankara to vow retaliation.
27-year-old Ebru Ozkan, who was arrested at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport on June 11 while returning to Turkey, was indicted at a military court on Sunday on several counts, including two counts of acting in the service of a proscribed group, one count of transferring money for enemy agents, and one count of threatening public order.If convicted, she could face several years in prison.
Ozkan is also facing an indictment for smuggling five bottles of perfume to be sold to raise funds for Hamas, which her lawyer mocked as trivial.
In response to that charge, her lawyer Omara Khamaisi told reporters outside the court, "Come on, really?""I think that in this case the decision will ultimately be a brave one - to release her, I hope," Khamaisi added.
The case has further strained ties between Tel Aviv and Ankara.In June 2016, Israel and Turkey reached an agreement to normalize relations six years after an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish aid flotilla killed 10 Turkish activists in high seas and sent their ties spiraling into a cycle of tensions in May 2010.
Source: Press TV