Ankara - Turkish authorities on Thursday detained four prosecutors and one military officer in a controversial case over the interception last year of trucks that allegedly contained arms bound for neighbouring Syria.
The four Turkish prosecutors had been reassigned and then suspended after they ordered the search of several trucks and buses in the southern provinces of Hatay and Adana near the Syrian border in January 2014 on suspicions of smuggling ammunition and arms into Syria.
The four -- the former chief prosecutor for the southern region of Adana Suleyman Bagriyanik and his deputies Ozcan Sisman, Aziz Takci and Ahmet Karaca -- were detained and were in court in Adana, the official Anatolia news agency said.
A series of documents had circulated on the Internet claiming the seized trucks were actually Turkish National Intelligence Agency (MIT) vehicles delivering weapons to Syrian Islamist rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.
Turkey has vehemently denied aiding Islamist rebels in Syria, such as the Islamic State (IS) group, although it wants to see Assad toppled.
The government has imposed a full blown media blackout, including on Facebook and Twitter, prohibiting publication of the allegations.
The four prosecutors have been charged with seeking the overthrow of the government, to paralyse its operations and also of espionage. They face life imprisonment if convicted, Anatolia reported.
AFP
