Members of illegal DHKP-C receive light jail terms in Greece

Yorgo Kırbaki ATHENS

A Greek court ruled prison terms for four men – two Greek citizens and two Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin – who were arrested on July 2013 by the coastguard off Chios, for transferring a large amount of weapons and explosives to Turkey.

One of the suspects was identified as Hasan Biber, who is wanted in Turkey for alleged involvement in two attacks against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) headquarters and the Justice Ministry in Ankara on March 19, 2013. Biber was sentenced to seven years in prison for each. The other suspects detained on the boat were identified as Mehmet Yayla and lawyer Ahmet Düzgün Yüksel.

Yüksel reportedly left Turkey five years ago before becoming a member of the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C). It is also claimed that Yüksel was carrying a Bulgarian passport when he was captured on the boat.

Yayla was sentenced to seven years in jail by the Greek court. Sinan Oktay Özen, who was captured on the island in the same operation, was sentenced to six years in jail. Alleged members of the DHKP-C, who were accused of help the key suspects, were Harika Kızılkaya, Fadik Adıyaman, Mustafa Yılmaz and Erdoğan Çakır. They were sentenced to three to six years in prison. Hüseyin Fevzi Tekin and Şerif Turunç were acquitted, but Tekin remained in prison for other crimes. 

Emin Sakallı, the owner of the boat, and two Greek nationals were sentenced to three-and-a-half to six years in jail for human trafficking. 

Those arrested were suspected of belonging to the DHKP-C which claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara in February 2013. It was later established that the assailant, Ecevit Şanlı, had entered Turkey illegally via Greece.