During the press conference held in IHH’s head office, IHH Secretary General Yaşar Kurtluay pointed out that the unlawful search was conducted not by relevant police department of Turkey’s Kilis district police department but by Anti-Terror Team came from Van district.
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Kutluay noted that the operation was undertaken without showing search warrant, and he added, “It was an unlawful operation performed to our Kilis Office that IHH coordinates its relief efforts to Syria”.
Kutluay who remarked that the operation was conducted regarding to an employee working in the Kilis Office, said that “heaven knows why, the police came to IHH’s Kilis Office and seized all computers rather than go to home of that particular person”.
Kutluay added:
“The unlawful search was performed in IHH’s Office, and the spaces belong to Qatar Red Crescent, by keeping all staff out of the buildings not to let them to witness the acts of the police.
The computers belong to IHH and Qatar Charity were seized illegally. The procedural actions were not implemented despite the objection of our lawyers.
As of this moment, our foundation lays the responsibility of all matters caused by the irregularity of the operation, including actions against us or loss of evidential materials on Police commanders and public prosecutor”.
By indicating that the mode of operation was the struggle of binding IHH with al Qaida for so long, Kutluay said, “as they could not directly calumniate IHH –despite all their plans- they have targeted an employee of IHH to link the foundation with al-Qaida”.
Yaşar Kutluay added that:
“During this process, either our president Bülent Yıldırım or all executive member of IHH had informed all media by holding press statement for various time regarding to the threats saying “we will show up all your links with al Qaida” to prevent us helping Syria and to stop to talk about the facts in Syria. Recently here we have such a dirty operation in Turkey. There is not only IHH take part in this operation but also all growing and developing institutions and bodies of Turkey”.
Mr. Kutluay, by arguing the operations started after the statement of Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs “IHH is the biggest threat for us”, stated that “They re-tried their plan which had already failed and mishandled on the truck issue, by busting our Kilis Office unlawfully, and blaming our Foundation through the case of an individual. They did not find any crime element in the search that we do not accept. But the purpose is not this. The purpose is to link IHH with a structure of terrorist organization in Turkey and create such a perception on public opinion by blaming that ‘IHH has a tie with al Qaida’.”
Kutluay completed his statement saying:
“We hereby declare:
IHH shall never give up helping Syrian people and standing by the side of the oppressed. IHH is the foundation of conscience and orphans all over the world by the support of people of Turkey. It is independent of any government, state or organization. Its management and decisionmaking entirely belongs to its own board. Following Mavi Marmara event IHH was targeted by Israel, Neocons and those who wish the help to Syria would stop and their local culprits. The actors of this unlawful operation against IHH serve this purpose. The Israeli minister of foreign affairs, Liberman made it clear as he said “IHH is the biggest threat for Isreal”. We would like to make it clear that we will not hesitate to take all legal actions against this unlawful operation nor shall we stop organizing aids.”
An investigation launched about the police
The lawyer of IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, Uğur Yıldırım said that “Our lawyers filed a criminal complaint to Kilis Prosecution Office about the police conducted the operation and their actions.
Actions also have been taken in Ankara. According to the last information we have, an investigation has been launched in Kilis by Turkish Ministry of Justice about the police who conducted this operation. Two public prosecutors have been charged with this investigation”.
Stating that the operation to IHH Kilis Office has links with the investigation launched in 2012 which tries to relate IHH with el-Qaida, Yıldırım also said:
“Within this investigation, today’s operation started upon the claim that the IHH Office is the home address of one of the IHH’s employees who has been working insured for 9 months in the foundation’s Kilis Office.
The search warrant regarding this operation was reached to me 5 minutes ago. This search warrant has been issued by giving the address of IHH Kilis Office to the court as the permanent address of the relevant person, which means the warrant issued by misleading the court in some way. This is the point we claim this operation was against the law.”
