- Israel releases Ebru Ozkan, accused of helping Hamas
- Turkey threatened retaliation after Ebru Ozkan鈥檚 detention last month
JERUSALEM: Israel has released a Turkish woman who had been arrested while visiting on a tourist visa and accused of helping the Palestinian group Hamas, in a case that angered Ankara and Israel, her lawyer said on Monday.
Turkey threatened retaliation after Ebru Ozkan鈥檚 detention last month. The ex-allies have long been at loggerheads over Israeli policy toward the Palestinians and Jerusalem鈥檚 status.
Ozkan鈥檚 lawyer, Omar Khamaisi, said she flew to Istanbul on Sunday, a week after an Israeli military court indicted her. An appeals court had ordered her freed and returned her passport, he told Reuters, adding: 鈥淭he indictment still stands, but I think that will be canceled too.鈥�
The Turkish news agency Anadlou quoted Ozkan, upon landing, as thanking President Tayyip Erdogan for having been 鈥渒ind enough to be very interested in my case.鈥�
Commenting on the decision to release Ozkan, an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: 鈥淭here are a number of factors behind this decision, including the amount of time she had already spent in detention and the fact that the charges weren鈥檛 especially grave in the first place.鈥�
The official declined to be drawn on whether Turkish diplomatic pressure might also have been a factor.
Ozkan was held at Tel Aviv鈥檚 Ben Gurion Airport last month while trying to board her original flight home after a visit that took her to Jerusalem, whose Al-Aqsa Mosque draws pilgrims from the few Muslim countries that have relations with Israel.
She was charged with helping smuggling money and packages to Hamas, which is classed as a terrorist group in Israel and the West, but not by NATO-power Turkey. Ozkan鈥檚 lawyer dismissed the charges as baseless and, potentially, politically motivated.
Hamas did not comment on the case.
Turkey鈥檚 government had cited Israel鈥檚 treatment of Ozkan and several other detained Turkish visitors as among 鈥渋nhumane policies鈥� that were souring bilateral ties.
Turkey vocally opposed a US decision in December to recognize Jerusalem as Israel鈥檚 capital. Palestinians want a state with a capital in eastern parts of the city where Al-Aqsa, as well as major Jewish and Christian shrines, are housed.