Two Iranians arrested over PKK membership in Turkey’s southeast
MARDİN
Two Iranians, who were seen taken pictures of the Mardin Municipality, were charged with taking the photographs in order to carry out attacks on behalf of the PKK.
Jiyar Cihanferd and Hesen Baledeh, who arrived in Turkey from Iran in December 2016, were initially detained while taking pictures of the municipality on Jan. 3.
Cihanferd reportedly told police that he was a writer and he arrived in Turkey in order to meet publishing houses. Baledeh said he was an engineer and arrived in Turkey for his master’s degree at Artuklu University’s Kurdish Studies Department.
The two were held in detention for a total of 22 days in Mardin and were sent to court on Jan. 26 before being arrested.
The lawyer of Cihanferd and Baledeh, Necat Çıray, has denied all charges against his clients.
“One of my clients is known to have been doing Kurdish studies in İran. Baledah arrived in Turkey for his master’s degree at Artuklu University. Both of them have researched Kurdish language and culture,” Çıray told the Doğan News Agency, saying the two had taken pictures all over Mardin as souvenirs.
“Their testimonies were found to be conflicting because they didn’t know Turkish,” he added.