Turkish police to file complaint against opposition MP for asking questions on cocaine bust

Duvar English

Turkish police on Nov. 17 announced that it will file a criminal complaint against main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Group Deputy Chair Engin Özkoç after the latter inquired about the legal collaboration with Colombia with regards to last year's seizure of cocaine destined for Turkey. 

Earlier in the day, Özkoç shared two documents on his social media account, one of which he said was sent by Colombian authorities demanding on Sept. 22 “judicial assistance” from Turkey with regards to the confiscation of 4.9 tons of cocaine in Port Buenaventura last year.  Özkoç said that according to the document, which is in Spanish, Colombian authorities have not been able to “receive an answer” from Turkey.

The other document shared by Özkoç was a previous statement from the Turkish police's Department of Fight Against Narcotic Crimes, saying its petition to Colombian authorities on legal collaboration has not been yet responded to.

Pointing out the discrepancy between the two documents, Özkoç asked Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu which of the information was true. The deputy said that he will raise the issue next week again in parliament.

In response, the police released a written statement saying that Colombian authorities have not so far demanded any judicial assistance from the Turkish Justice Ministry with regards to the cocaine bust. It also said that Colombia had not yet answered Turkey's demand for legal assistance.

The police also touched upon the Spanish document shared by Özkoç saying it does not include a remark that says “commission rogatoire demand has been made to Turkey on Sept. 22, 2021.”

“A criminal complaint will be filed against some names, especially CHP Group Deputy Chair Engin Özkoç, who try to degrade our state, damages its reputation and try to damage its fight against organized crimes and drugs trade, through slanders on social media,” the police said.

Increased drug trafficking in and around Turkey has been on the public agenda over the past months as mafia boss Sedat Peker implied the involvement of government officials in such illegal schemes. 

On Nov. 16, Peker released two numbers that he said belonged to containers with the seized 4.9 tons of cocaine. In a series of tweets, he said that the relevant numbers can determine where these containers were headed to Turkey and called on authorities to find the people destined to receive the cocaine. He also accused the Interior Ministry of “not doing anything” to find the potential recipients of the shipment.

“As every plane, every ship has a number, so do containers. From these numbers, it can be tracked where that container is located in the world, where it will go, to which company it will be delivered. You [Turkish gov't] no longer need to ask for information from the Colombian government. I've also found out about that,” Peker wrote.

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