Turkish Journalists Jailed Over Spying Charges

Two Turkish journalists accused of espionage and aiding a terrorist organization have been sent to prison by a court in Istanbul late Thursday.



Istanbul's 7th Penal Court of Peace which is conducting the investigation into accusations against the two journalists, ordered Can Dundar and Erdem Gul put behind bars pending trial.



Dundar, editor-in-chief of newspaper Cumhuriyet, and the daily's Ankara bureau chief, Gul, were referred to the court by Istanbul Prosecutor Irfan Fidan earlier Thursday, who interrogated the two suspects for two hours.



The newspaper where the duo worked had published photographs and video footage purportedly showing trucks belonging to the Turkish intelligence service MIT.



In January 2014, several trucks were stopped by local gendarmerie in southern Adana and Hatay provinces on the grounds that they were loaded with ammunition, despite a national security law forbidding such a search. The case saw the arrests of 26 soldiers.



Turkey's Interior Ministry said at the time that the trucks, which were reportedly carrying arms into northern Syria, were in reality conveying humanitarian aid to the Turkmen community in the war-torn country.



Accompanying photographs published by the daily showed several vehicles filled with weapons and ammunition, stacked under cardboard boxes containing medication. In one photograph, the serial numbers on the ammunition were also visible. - Ankara