Israel freed Ebru Ozkan, accused of ties to Hamas following a request by U.S. President Donald Trump, an Israeli official said on Friday, after the Washington Post reported the deal as part of a failed White House bid to get Ankara to release an American detainee.
On July 8, it indicted her in a security court for ties to the Palestinian group, charges her lawyer denied and which angered Turkey. She was deported a week later.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a July 14 phone call to let Ozkan go in a “trade” for Andrew Brunson, a U.S. pastor who has spent 21 months in Turkish detention.
“I can confirm that there was such a request by President Trump,” an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity, without elaborating.
The U.S. Embassy had no immediate comment.
Source: Reuters
Last Mod: 27 Temmuz 2018, 12:33
