Israel extends detention of Turkish lecturer for third time

JERUSALEM

An Israeli court on Feb. 6 extended the detention of Cemil Tekeli, an assistant professor of law at Istanbul Medeniyet University, for a third time, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

Israeli police detained Tekeli on Jan. 15 at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport after he attended a program in Jerusalem that began on Jan 11.

During the trial on Feb. 6, which was closed to the press, Tekeli’s detention was extended for six more days until Feb. 11.

His detention had previously been extended for eight days until Feb. 4.

Israeli authorities rejected the Anadolu Agency correspondent’s request to attend the trial, saying it would be held “behind closed doors.”

Tekeli’s wife, Meryem Tekeli, previously said her husband was “unlawfully detained.”

“We are in shock. We only went to Jerusalem for travel reasons. My husband is innocent … The Israeli authorities are not giving us any information,” she said.

Turkey’s Tel Aviv Embassy is reported to be closely following developments in the case.