Opposition MP joins other lawmakers in Turkish prison
Republican People’s Party member Enis Berberoglu has joined several other imprisoned lawmakers, convicted of revealing state secrets surrounding the MIT truck scandal of 2014.
A prominent opposition member of parliament was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a Turkish court today, part of a widening crackdown by Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) government against its critics.
Enis Berberoglu, a member of the pro-secular Republican People’s Party (CHP), was convicted of revealing state secrets. The veteran journalist who ran Hurriyet, the country’s most influential newspaper, before running for parliament was accused of having leaked footage shot in January 2014 of trucks operated by Turkey’s national spy agency, MIT, that were laden with weapons.
Turkey's judges are taking orders directly from the presidential palace, said CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu after an emergency meeting of his executive board.
The arms were allegedly destined for jihadi groups in Syria. It is an open secret that since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Turkey was for many years the main conduit for weapons flowing to opposition rebels, including jihadis, seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
