Turkey arrests Palestinian journalist accused of spying for UAE

Palestine

Published: 2020-10-20 16:25

Last Updated: 2024-03-27 06:46


Turkey arrests Palestinian journalist accused of spying for UAE
Turkey arrests Palestinian journalist accused of spying for UAE

Turkey has arrested a man accused of spying for its regional rival, the UAE, according to the Turkish state-run TRT World on Tuesday.

Ahmed Al-Astal, a 45-year-old Palestinian from Gaza, was carrying Jordanian travel documents when he was detained in Turkey.

The Al-Astal family in Gaza released a statement on social media September 25 stating that he had been "kidnapped" four days earlier in Turkey.

His family explained at the time that he worked as a journalist in the Emirates for ten years before moving to Turkey, where he worked in several media outlets, including the Turkish state-run Anadolu News Agency.

In a second statement Tuesday, his family accused Turkey of handling the matter in a "vague" manner, adding that any confessions made by Al-Astal should not be used under duress.

The family urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to intervene, saying that Al-Astal's wife and two daughters are in Turkey alone and suffering psychologically.

TRT World quoted Turkish sources as saying that the UAE had ordered Al-Astal to spy on the Muslim Brotherhood in Turkey and “other activists” after he moved to the country in 2013.

The TRT World report also stated he had collected information on Turkish internal affairs, without providing further details.

Turkey's relations with the UAE are already tense, as the two countries are on opposite sides of the conflict in Libya as well as long-standing tensions over Ankara's ideological affinity with the Muslim Brotherhood, which Abu Dhabi strongly opposes.

And when the Gulf states, including the UAE, cut ties with Qatar in 2017, Turkey rushed to support Doha, which remains Ankara's closest Arab ally.

The UAE also hosts the former strongman in the Palestinian Authority, Muhammad Dahlan, who is often accused by Turkish media of being involved in the failed coup in 2016 against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and of playing a role in the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Last year, Turkey offered 4 million lira ($ 500,000) to obtain information leading to the arrest of Dahlan, a fierce rival to his former ally Abbas in the Palestinian Fatah movement.