Greek spy marking Turkish military bases detained

Ömer Bilge - NICOSIA

A Greek spy watching and photographing the military bases on the Turkish Cypriot’s Karpas Peninsula has been caught as he had forgotten his radio in his hotel room.

Andreas Soutzis, who stayed in a hotel in Mehmetçik village on the Karpas Peninsula on Aug. 26 and then traveled to Greek Cyprus, began to be sought after the cleaning staff found a radio in his hotel room and reported it to the police.

Soutzis was detained once he tried to re-enter Turkish Cyprus on Sept. 3.

A search of his car found another radio of the same type as the one in the hotel, many photographs, a USB drive, a voice recorder and nine Turkish Cypriot maps.

Two military zones were marked on one of the maps as Soutzis admitted in his initial interrogation that he took pictures of military areas he had marked.

The peninsula harbors the Geçitkale military airport, where Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles are stationed.

Soutzis, who was brought before the judge on charges of espionage in Famagusta, was taken into custody for five days for investigation purposes.

Soutzis’ lawyer, Öncel Polili, told the Greek Cypriot media that the phone lines of the Greek side don’t work on the Turkish side, claiming that he uses the radio to communicate with his friends.

“Soutzis didn’t know the radio is subjected to permission,” he added.

The Greek Cypriot Foreign Ministry demanded the release of Soutzis, while the United Nations spokesman Aleem Siddique stated that they are in contact with the Greek and Turkish sides regarding the issue.