Attacked Turkish pilot faces six-year jail term

ANKARA

Legal action was initiated on March 17 against Turkish fighter pilot Lieutenant Colonel Hakan Karakuş, who was assaulted on Sept. 11, 2014 in Ankara by a Kuwaiti diplomat and embassy officials. Both Karakuş and his attackers face prison terms, according to the prosecutor’s indictment.

The lawsuit filed by Public Prosecutor Banu Özenç İslim demands up to six years in prison for Hakan Karakuş on the grounds that he vandalized public property by kicking the Kuwaiti Embassy car, daily Habertürk reported. It also demands up to four-and-a-half years in prison for the driver of the car, identified as Selahaddin A., on accusations of deliberate assault and breaking the soldier’s cheekbone.

The indictment stressed that Karakuş kicked the embassy car as he was being beaten by the driver, the embassy attaché Emad Ali A., and an unidentified diplomat.

The indictment also stated that the embassy attaché’s summary of proceedings had been sent to the Justice Ministry due to his diplomatic immunity. An investigation into the identity of the unidentified diplomat has also been demanded.

Hakan Karakuş, the son-in-law of Turkish Air Force General Akın Öztürk, was seriously assaulted in broad daylight by a Kuwaiti diplomat and embassy officials in a traffic quarrel, while he was on paternity leave in Ankara.

The Turkish General Staff contacted the Foreign Ministry after the incident, demanding that “all measures be taken” against the diplomat, including deportation.

The Foreign Ministry also summoned embassy officials and Kuwaiti Ambassador Abdullah Abdulaziz al-Duwaikh over his statement that his country’s investments in Turkey could be negatively affected if the diplomat was deported before a court decision.