Turkish authorities have arrested an American diplomat working for the US Consulate in Lebanon for allegedly providing a fake passport to a Syrian national, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported on Wednesday.
The Anadolu Agency said the suspect, identified by his initials D.J.K., was detained at Istanbul Airport on Nov. 11, and was later formally arrested on suspicion of selling the forged passport to the Syrian national for $10,000.
Anadolu said the Syrian was detained for questioning after he attempted to travel to Germany on the false passport, which was in D.J.K.’s name.
Police later determined through an examination of security camera footage, that D.J.K. gave him the passport at the airport and the two also exchanged clothes. Police also seized an envelope containing $10,000 from the diplomat, the report said.
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The American was jailed while the Syrian was released pending possible proceedings for falsifying documents, Anadolu reported.
The US Embassy in Ankara would not comment on the report. There was also no immediate comment from the US Embassy in Beirut.
According to a report, Adiplomat from the United States Consulate in Beirut, who was detained at Istanbul Airport on the grounds that he issued a fake passport to a Syrian national who was trying to go abroad in exchange for $10,000, was arrested, reports said Wednesday.
In a written statement from the Istanbul Police Department, it was reported that on Nov. 11, 2021, at around 5 p.m., it was determined that Syrian national R.S., who wanted to go to Germany from Istanbul Airport with a fake passport, tried to go abroad with another person’s passport during the checks at the passport point.
Following an investigation, it was determined that the passport that R.S. used while trying to escape belonged to D.J.K., a diplomat at the U.S. Consulate in Beirut. During the examination of the camera footage, it was noted that the two suspects met in the airport and changed their clothes there and R.S. then received the passport from the American diplomat D.J.K.
In the statement, it was stated that both suspects were taken into custody, and the following information was shared: “During the body search, $10,000 and a diplomatic passport of his own name were found in the envelope from the American citizen D.J.K. Syrian national R.S., who was found trying to exit the country by using fake passports, was one of the persons referred to the judicial authorities. He was released on charges of ‘forgery of official documents.’ The person named D. J. K., an American citizen, was arrested and handed over to prison.”
Foreign diplomats customarily have immunity from prosecution, but they are subject to prosecution and punishment in countries where they are not accredited. That principle seems to apply to the U.S. diplomat in custody, who was accredited in Lebanon, not Turkey.
