Switzerland: arrest warrant against Turkish diplomats

The Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office has issued arrest warrants against two Turkish diplomats. The diplomats linked to the Turkish domestic intelligence service MIT are accused of planning to kidnap a businessman.

The Swiss federal prosecutor's office has issued arrest warrants against Turkish diplomats Haci Mehmet Gani and Hakan Kamil Yerge. The diplomats are accused of having planned to kidnap a businessman in the late summer of 2016.

The Zurich businessman with Turkish roots is said to be a married family man in his mid-fifties. The businessman was advised by the diplomats because he belonged to the movement of the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.

Diplomats Haci Mehmet Gani and Hakan Kamil Yerge, who served as press attaché and second embassy secretary in Bern at the time of the planned hijacking operation, first wanted to numb their victims before they were taken away. The plan failed after an involuntary dropped out and informed the authorities.

As early as March 2017, the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal case against Gani and Yerge for "suspicion of political intelligence and prohibited acts for a foreign state". The diplomatic immunity of the two has now been lifted. Since only a national arrest warrant was issued against Gani and Yerge, and it is unlikely that they will actually end up in a Swiss jail unless they enter Switzerland.

Swiss press had previously covered articles exposing that the Turkish diplomats in Switzerland work with Turkish intelligence MİT, and that the embassy has transformed into MİT headquarters.

Previous reports by ANF also exposed the cooperation between the Turkish Embassy in Bern and Turkish consulates in Switzerland.