General detained for human smuggling using official vehicle

Journalist Barış Terkoğlu had uncovered that a brigadier general serving in the operation zone in Syria was smuggling people from Syria to Turkey using his official vehicle.

It was reported that Brigadier General B.Ç. was detained in Ankara.

It was learned that B.Ç. was taken to Şanlıurfa.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Cumhuriyet columnist Barış Terkoğlu described the scandal in his article titled "What else will we see" dated May 20, 2024, with the following expressions:

Surprise is the medicine for the mind. The more we get used to things, the more our minds become blinded. There are events that make people wonder. One of them happened recently in Urfa. It was kept like a secret from the public. Honestly, I couldn't believe my ears when I heard it. After confirming it by talking to five separate military sources, I said, "now is the time to write."

You know how we ask, if there is so much protection, how is this border crossed...

The major suspicion regarding human smuggling from Syria to Turkey surprised even the authorities. Because the smuggling was being carried out with the official vehicle of a brigadier general serving in the operation zone in Syria. Security forces conducted an operation with the prosecutor's permission on the vehicle, which is normally not stopped or searched. They caught the soldiers who were bringing Syrians across the border in exchange for money red-handed.

SMUGGLING WITH THE GENERAL'S VEHICLE

The sources I spoke to said that the aide-de-camp and the specialist sergeant who served as the bodyguard of Brigadier General B.Ç., who was serving in the units in Syria, were detained for this reason. The two soldiers were constantly transporting people from Syria to Turkey with the official vehicle of the brigadier general, who was in Syria for the operation. They were earning thousands of dollars per trip from this business. Of course, no one suspected the general's vehicle.

I insistently called the Deputy Minister of National Defense for an official statement, but there was no return. Other ministry sources I spoke to said that they intervened in the incident quickly, that Brigadier General B.Ç. was under investigation due to his negligence in the scandalous incident, and that he was referred for retirement. On the other hand, they explained that the prosecutor's investigation into the aide-de-camp and the bodyguard sergeant was ongoing, and that the two soldiers' ties to the TSK (Turkish Armed Forces) would be severed as a result of the investigation. In short, they said, "We did what was required of us."

Prosecutor's office sources also stated that raids were carried out on the soldiers' homes and that a financial investigation report was prepared about them.

Not just Brigadier General B.Ç.

They said that Brigadier General M.B., the Commander of the 20th Armored Brigade serving in Urfa, was also appointed as the deputy commander of the 3rd Infantry Division in Hakkâri Yüksekova for the integrity of the investigation.

News Source: 12punto