 Eleven people have appeared in court in the southern province of Gaziantep in a series of hearings regarding alleged Hizbullah members. Detainees include four people who are the heads of a variety of nongovernmental organizations. DHA photo |
Police detained two alleged leaders of Turkish Hizbullah and three other suspects in Istanbul on Tuesday, according to Anatolia news agency.
Hacı İnan, the alleged leader of the organization’s military wing, and İlyas Kutulman, the organization’s alleged Istanbul branch head, were released from jail in Istanbul on Jan. 4 after a new law came into effect, limiting the period of detention without arrest to a maximum of 10 years.
Detainees also included İnan’s son, news wires reported.
A further 12 alleged Hizbullah members were released in Diyarbakır on Jan. 4 following the application of the same law on condition they reported to police every Monday. While these 12 alleged Hizbullah members reportedly never appeared at any police station, İnan and Kutulman reported to police regularly, private news channel NTV reported.
Istanbul Police Chief Hüseyin Çapkın said the detention of the suspects was part of a new operation against Hizbullah.
“This was a planned operation, with those who were released among persons of interest,” Çapkın said but did not address media speculation that the two were detained to prevent them from disappearing like the other released Hizbullah suspects.
Istanbul Gov. Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, however, implied that the detentions were a precaution, NTV reported. “Our police were watching the Istanbul Hizbullah suspects. They have planned to take new measures, according to new developments, when necessary. These two Hizbullah suspects should go to the police once a week. They went for the first time, but further action was needed following the recent [developments],” Mutlu said.
An arrest warrant for the at-large suspects was issued Friday but security forces have not been able to track them down. Police raided residences and possible hideouts in Diyarbakır on Tuesday but were unable to locate the suspects, Doğan news agency, or DHA, reported.
Conflicting media reports said they were believed to have escaped to Iran or Syria. However, the Iranian Embassy to Turkey rejected the claims Monday, saying the Hizbullah suspects had not entered Iran. Embassy spokesman Mahmud Nami said the mission strongly condemned such media reports.
Adana detainees face court
Meanwhile, 18 suspected Hizbullah members who were detained in separate operations in Adana and Mersin on Saturday appeared in court Tuesday. The brother of one of the suspects was an al-Qaeda member killed in armed conflict with U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, Doğan news agency, or DHA, reported one of the suspects as saying.
A further 11 people appeared in court in the southern province of Gaziantep on Tuesday in another series of hearings regarding alleged Hizbullah members. Detainees include four people who are the heads of a variety of nongovernmental organizations. The suspects were detained Saturday, with police also seizing computers and documents from the workplaces and homes of the suspects.
Hizbullah, unrelated to the Lebanese Hezbollah, is thought to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people during the mid-1990s, the worst years of the conflict between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and Turkish government forces. Hizbullah came to prominence in the late 1980s in southeastern Turkey, with some experts saying its ultimate aim is the destruction of the secular order and the diffusion of “true Islam” throughout the country, by force if necessary. However, strong claims have surfaced that the Turkish state itself established the organization to take its fight against the PKK underground through acts such as extreme torture and summary execution.
Hacı İnan, the alleged leader of the organization’s military wing, and İlyas Kutulman, the organization’s alleged Istanbul branch head, were released from jail in Istanbul on Jan. 4 after a new law came into effect, limiting the period of detention without arrest to a maximum of 10 years.
Detainees also included İnan’s son, news wires reported.
A further 12 alleged Hizbullah members were released in Diyarbakır on Jan. 4 following the application of the same law on condition they reported to police every Monday. While these 12 alleged Hizbullah members reportedly never appeared at any police station, İnan and Kutulman reported to police regularly, private news channel NTV reported.
Istanbul Police Chief Hüseyin Çapkın said the detention of the suspects was part of a new operation against Hizbullah.
“This was a planned operation, with those who were released among persons of interest,” Çapkın said but did not address media speculation that the two were detained to prevent them from disappearing like the other released Hizbullah suspects.
Istanbul Gov. Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, however, implied that the detentions were a precaution, NTV reported. “Our police were watching the Istanbul Hizbullah suspects. They have planned to take new measures, according to new developments, when necessary. These two Hizbullah suspects should go to the police once a week. They went for the first time, but further action was needed following the recent [developments],” Mutlu said.
An arrest warrant for the at-large suspects was issued Friday but security forces have not been able to track them down. Police raided residences and possible hideouts in Diyarbakır on Tuesday but were unable to locate the suspects, Doğan news agency, or DHA, reported.
Conflicting media reports said they were believed to have escaped to Iran or Syria. However, the Iranian Embassy to Turkey rejected the claims Monday, saying the Hizbullah suspects had not entered Iran. Embassy spokesman Mahmud Nami said the mission strongly condemned such media reports.
Adana detainees face court
Meanwhile, 18 suspected Hizbullah members who were detained in separate operations in Adana and Mersin on Saturday appeared in court Tuesday. The brother of one of the suspects was an al-Qaeda member killed in armed conflict with U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, Doğan news agency, or DHA, reported one of the suspects as saying.
A further 11 people appeared in court in the southern province of Gaziantep on Tuesday in another series of hearings regarding alleged Hizbullah members. Detainees include four people who are the heads of a variety of nongovernmental organizations. The suspects were detained Saturday, with police also seizing computers and documents from the workplaces and homes of the suspects.
Hizbullah, unrelated to the Lebanese Hezbollah, is thought to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people during the mid-1990s, the worst years of the conflict between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and Turkish government forces. Hizbullah came to prominence in the late 1980s in southeastern Turkey, with some experts saying its ultimate aim is the destruction of the secular order and the diffusion of “true Islam” throughout the country, by force if necessary. However, strong claims have surfaced that the Turkish state itself established the organization to take its fight against the PKK underground through acts such as extreme torture and summary execution.
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