Sabotage on Turkish submarine prevented

KOCAELİ

A sabotage attempt on Turkey’s most developed submarine has been prevented by an officer in the northwestern province of Kocaeli’s Gölcük district. 

A non-commissioned officer on duty, identified only as S.S., reportedly placed a high number of screws, studs and keys on the engine of the “TC Gür” submarine, which was anchored in Gölcük on Dec. 30, 2016, daily Posta reported on March 5. 

An officer foiled the sabotage attempt and caught S.S., who was later arrested. 

“If it hadn’t been noticed, the engine would become unusable the moment the submarine operated,” military sources, whose identities were kept hidden, told daily Posta, adding that S.S. was under suspicion of being a member of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), which is widely believed to have been behind the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt. 

A similar incident took place previously, when a plane used by Air Force Pilot Col. Yaşar Kadıoğlu broke down during landing. The Boeing 737 airborne early warning and control aircraft named “Doğu” took off with a 15-flight personnel crew and malfunctioned during landing.

After investigations, authorities on Feb. 7 found a bud in the pitot tube in the plane’s speed system 

Aviation experts, whose identities were kept anonymous, said it was impossible for a bud to enter the tube in natural ways and that they were evaluating the matter with suspicions that it was placed intentionally. 

The authorities also pointed to the fact that it could be a sabotage attempt by the followers of the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.