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Turkish Court Sentences Germany-based Journalist to Jail on Terror Charges

Soldiers holding guns walk near the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing, in Kastanies, Greece March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Florion Goga
Soldiers holding guns walk near the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing, in Kastanies, Greece March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Florion Goga
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Turkish Court Sentences Germany-based Journalist to Jail on Terror Charges

Soldiers holding guns walk near the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing, in Kastanies, Greece March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Florion Goga
Soldiers holding guns walk near the Turkey's Pazarkule border crossing, in Kastanies, Greece March 4, 2020. REUTERS/Florion Goga

A Turkish court on Thursday sentenced German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel in absentia to 2 years and 9 months to jail for terrorism propaganda, state-owned Anadolu agency said, in a case that had strained ties between Ankara and Berlin.

Yucel was released from custody in February 2018, after being kept in jail for a year without an indictment. He returned to Berlin right after his release. Yucel denies the charges against him.

He was accused of spreading propaganda in support of both Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Ankara of plotting the 2016 failed coup, and also of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency in southeast Turkey since the 1980s.

He was also charged with inciting public enmity.

Yucel's arrest led to protracted row between Turkey and Germany, two NATO allies. Shortly after his arrest, Berlin banned Turkish ministers from speaking to rallies of expatriate Turks, while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Yucel a terrorist agent and Ankara accused Germany of supporting Gulen's network.

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German Christmas Market Attacker Asked about Whereabouts of Saudi Ambassador

People mourn at the mourning site in front of St. John's Church following a vehicle-ramming attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 22 December 2024. EPA/FILIP SINGER
People mourn at the mourning site in front of St. John's Church following a vehicle-ramming attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 22 December 2024. EPA/FILIP SINGER
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German Christmas Market Attacker Asked about Whereabouts of Saudi Ambassador

People mourn at the mourning site in front of St. John's Church following a vehicle-ramming attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 22 December 2024. EPA/FILIP SINGER
People mourn at the mourning site in front of St. John's Church following a vehicle-ramming attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, 22 December 2024. EPA/FILIP SINGER

The perpetrator who drove a car at speed through a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg, Germany, has reportedly offered a reward in return for information about the whereabouts of the Saudi ambassador to Germany, a source told Independent Arabia on Sunday.
The source said that the attacker, Taleb al-Abd al-Mohsen, had offered a SAR 10,000 (equivalent to 2662 euros) in reward for anyone who provides information pertaining to the residence of the Saudi ambassador to Germany, and the timing of his presence.
The Saudi embassy had informed the German authorities about the threat, said the source but the latter “did not take the matter seriously”, he stated.
On Friday, Taleb al-Abd al-Mohsen drove a car at speed through a Christmas market in Germany, killing four women ranging in age from 45 to 75, as well as a 9-year-old boy and injuring 200, including 41 in serious condition.
The police apprehended the perpetrator at the scene of the attack. He is a doctor who had fled Saudi Arabia, where he was wanted on criminal charges. He had been residing in Germany for two decades.
Saudi Arabia condemned the ramming attack and expressed solidarity with the people of Germany.
A Saudi source told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had warned the German authorities about the suspect who appears to have been an active user of the social media platform X, sharing extremist tweets and retweets daily.
In 2023 and 2024, Germany received warnings about the man from Saudi authorities, a German source affirmed.