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Israeli Couple Arrested in Turkey on Espionage Charges
More on this story from yesterday.
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

Anadolu Agency said a Ottoman Turkish national was also arrested. Police detained them after a tip off from an employee working in the Camlica radio and television tower on the Asian side of Istanbul.

The employee claimed they were taking photographs of Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than there are in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really most important...
's nearby home from the tower's restaurant earlier this week.

They were formally arrested pending trial for "political and military espionage" by an Istanbul court.

In a statement issued late Friday, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid denied the couple work for an "Israeli agency." He said his department has been in regular contact with the pair and is trying to organize their release.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz identified the couple as Natalie and Mordi Oknin. Citing their lawyer, it said they were taking photographs of the Ottoman-era Dolmabahce Palace while taking a ferry. Parts of Dolmabahce, located on the city's European side, are used as a presidential working office.
The Times of Israel adds:
The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire...
 is said to be weighing between bringing charges of espionage against an Israeli couple detained in Turkey for taking photographs of the president’s palace or charging them with a lesser offense of engaging in acts that harm the country’s national security, Israeli TV reported Saturday night.

Channel 12 reported, without citing sources, that Ottoman Turkish prosecutors were intent on charging the couple and were still considering between the serious espionage charge or a lesser charge. The news channel also reported that the Israeli government feared that Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First would exploit the crisis to extract some sort of price from Israel for the release of the couple.

Also Saturday, Walla news reported that Israel has not received an explanation from Ottoman Turkish officials for the arrest and detention of the couple, Mordy and Natali Oknin, and officials increasingly suspect the arrests were made for political gain.

The Foreign Ministry still hopes the standoff can be solved through Israel’s consulate, without political actors getting involved. "But right now, it doesn’t look good," a bigwig told Walla.

An unidentified source familiar with Turkey’s legal system told Channel 12, "It is clear that this was a political, rather than a legal, decision... It is clear that elements in Erdogan’s circle exerted pressure and briefed him as if these were Mossad agents on an Israeli mission."
Posted by: Fred 2021-11-14
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=617457