MİT: Contents of Weapons Truck Bound for Syria Declared State Secret

The contents of a truck stopped yesterday on the Kırıkhan-Reyhanlı road by units attached to the Hatay Provincial Gendarmerie Command and assumed to be headed to Syria have been declared a “state secret,” according to  ANF. The truck was widely reported to have been searched and discovered to be full of weapons and ammunition. Opposition groups fighting in Syria, including radicalist groups affiliated to al-Qaeda, have been known to receive material and military support from Turkey in the past. Another truck stopped and searched in Adana Province on November 7th was also found to be transporting rockets, among other materials.

After a written order from the Hatay Provincal Governor, Celalettin Lekesiz, a report made on the incident was produced by the Kırıkhan District Prosecutor. The report affirms that those inside the truck identified themselves as working for Turkish National Intelligence (MİT) and declared that the contents of the truck were state secrets.

According to the report the truck was initially stopped by police, but the gendarmerie was called after occupants of the truck called into question police jurisdiction. In a document that was sent by the Provincial Governor Lekesiz to both the Kırıkhan District Governorate and the Hatay Provincial Gendarmerie Command, the incident was addressed thus: “It has been understood that vehicles whose occupants are functionaries working with MİT have been stopped by the Kırıkhan District Gendarmerie Command…the detainment of aforementioned personnel is in violation of procedures involving the special status of functionaries as determined by law. no 2937 and their work with the Office of the Prime Minister and can have criminal consequences. I request the identifies of those concerned individuals be determined and that they be freed immediately.”

The police officers that first stopped the truck are reported to have been relieved of duty; the assistant director of the local Terror and Organized Crimes Unit and a number of other officers have been transferred.