Turkey’s Paris envoy refutes claims of Paris bombers holding Turkish passports

PARIS

Soldiers patrol at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on November 16, 2015 three days after the terrorist attacks that left at least 129 dead and more than 350 injured. AFP photo

Turkish Ambassador to Paris Hakkı Akil has denied claims put forward by CNN International’s Christiane Amanpour that two Turkish passports were found on two of the Paris bombers. 

“No, not even a crumb of official intelligence about that has come to us,” Akil said during a televised program on Turkish private station CNNTürk that was broadcasting from Paris on Nov. 15. 

“Even if there was such a thing, they [French authorities] would receive necessary intelligence directly from our ministries as there is very serious cooperation with France,” he said, adding that there was “constant interaction between security officials.”

Amanpour had reported on Nov. 15 that two of the three bombers who detonated themselves at the Stade de France, while France and Germany were playing a friendly match on Nov. 13, carried false Turkish passports.

She said she based this claim on an unnamed French senator who was briefed by the French Interior Ministry.

The claims did not refer to whether the mentioned passports were actually Turkish passports or fake Syrian passports that were prepared in Turkey. 

At least 129 people were killed and more than 350 wounded in multiple attacks claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on the night of Nov. 13 in Paris.