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Criminals pay travelers to take suitcases full of leaves abroad, but European countries, including Turkey, have increasingly been punishing those they catch. Organized crime groups are paying travelers to smuggle khat leaves to Turkey, leading to dozens of foreigners being arrested, and some jailed, in Turkey. The number of young foreig people who go and are arrested is increasing. In a recent case, an Israeli imprisoned in Turkey for smuggling khat takes off for Israel. Danny Awka, who spent 4.5 years in a Turkish prison for smuggling Khat, will land in Israel Saturday evening. Awka was arrested in 2019 with 34 kg of khat, which is considered an illegal drug in Turkey. The drug is legal in Israel in its natural form. He was accused of drug trafficking and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Awka, who claimed he was taken advantage of by criminals, was released with the help of an American Jewish organization.
Foreigner jailed in Turkey for smuggling khat
An Israeli man jailed in Turkey for the past four-and-a-half years on a drug trafficking conviction arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on Saturday after being granted early release.
Danny Aweke, 35, was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of smuggling khat leaves through the country, and was later convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. In recent months, his mental condition deteriorated, prompting the intervention of Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and President Isaac Herzog in an effort to secure his release.
After his arrest, Aweke, who had had no prior run-ins with the law, told Turkish police that the dealers who convinced him to carry the khat had told him that the leaves were legal. Though it is approved for use in Israel, khat is considered an illegal drug in many countries due to its mild narcotic effect.
Aweke served over three years in prison, including a transfer to another facility after harassment by Syrian and Iranian inmates who discovered that he was Israeli. He was released to house arrest and moved to a halfway house 18 months ago to ease prison overcrowding, but was barred from leaving the country.
“I am trembling with excitement; it was a long and exhausting struggle,” Aweke told Channel 13 upon landing. “I have waited for this moment to meet my family and friends again.”
He thanked Cohen and Herzog, while adding that “I am personally grateful to MK Pnina Tamano-Shata [of the opposition’s National Unity party] who did not give up on me and my family and worked to make state officials intervene on my behalf. I thank the entire people of Israel and ask them to allow me to rest and recover quietly with my family.”
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Thursday that “the warming relations between Israel and Turkey contributed greatly to the advancement of the matter toward its happy ending.”
According to the Foreign Ministry, Cohen recently interceded on Aweke’s behalf by sending newly-appointed Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan a letter asking for his release on humanitarian grounds.
A joint Thursday statement said that Herzog and Cohen made significant progress, leading Turkish authorities to agree to release Aweke this coming weekend.
“This is further proof of the supreme efforts of the Foreign Ministry to help Israeli citizens,” Cohen said. “This is a sensitive humanitarian case, and I thank President Isaac Herzog for the joint work along with my friend, Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan, for the understanding of the urgent need to advance Danny Aweke’s release.”
The Ynet news site said it was a local law firm hired by an American Jewish philanthropist that uncovered a loophole in the Turkish legal code that allowed for the Israeli to be expelled from the country instead of serving the remainder of his sentence there.
After several years of tension between the two countries, relations between Turkey and Israel have improved over the past year, partially thanks to diplomatic channels opened by Herzog to secure the release of other Israelis imprisoned by Ankara. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been set to visit Ankara in July, in what would have been the first visit by an Israeli premier since 2006, but had to push off the trip due to health issues.
An Israeli man jailed in Turkey for the past four-and-a-half years on a drug trafficking conviction arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on Saturday after being granted early release.
Danny Aweke, 35, was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of smuggling khat leaves through the country, and was later convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. In recent months, his mental condition deteriorated, prompting the intervention of Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and President Isaac Herzog in an effort to secure his release.
After his arrest, Aweke, who had had no prior run-ins with the law, told Turkish police that the dealers who convinced him to carry the khat had told him that the leaves were legal. Though it is approved for use in Israel, khat is considered an illegal drug in many countries due to its mild narcotic effect
Aweke served over three years in prison, including a transfer to another facility after harassment by Syrian and Iranian inmates who discovered that he was Israeli. He was released to house arrest and moved to a halfway house 18 months ago to ease prison overcrowding, but was barred from leaving the country.
“I am trembling with excitement; it was a long and exhausting struggle,” Aweke told Channel 13 upon landing. “I have waited for this moment to meet my family and friends again.”
He thanked Cohen and Herzog, while adding that “I am personally grateful to MK Pnina Tamano-Shata [of the opposition’s National Unity party] who did not give up on me and my family and worked to make state officials intervene on my behalf. I thank the entire people of Israel and ask them to allow me to rest and recover quietly with my family.”
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Thursday that “the warming relations between Israel and Turkey contributed greatly to the advancement of the matter toward its happy ending.”
According to the Foreign Ministry, Cohen recently interceded on Aweke’s behalf by sending newly-appointed Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan a letter asking for his release on humanitarian grounds. joint Thursday statement said that Herzog and Cohen made significant progress, leading Turkish authorities to agree to release Aweke this coming weekend.
“This is further proof of the supreme efforts of the Foreign Ministry to help Israeli citizens,” Cohen said. “This is a sensitive humanitarian case, and I thank President Isaac Herzog for the joint work along with my friend, Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan, for the understanding of the urgent need to advance Danny Aweke’s release.”
The Ynet news site said it was a local law firm hired by an American Jewish philanthropist that uncovered a loophole in the Turkish legal code that allowed for the Israeli to be expelled from the country instead of serving the remainder of his sentence there.
After several years of tension between the two countries, relations between Turkey and Israel have improved over the past year, partially thanks to diplomatic channels opened by Herzog to secure the release of other Israelis imprisoned by Ankara. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been set to visit Ankara in July, in what would have been the first visit by an Israeli premier since 2006, but had to push off the trip due to health issues.oreign Minister Eli Cohen (L) meets Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, February 14, 2023. (Presidency of the Republic of Turkiye)
In March 2022, Herzog met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey, and then-prime minister Yair Lapid met with Erdogan in New York a year ago.
Relations became increasingly fraught starting in 2010, after an Israeli commando raid on the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara ship, part of a blockade-busting flotilla, that left dead 10 Turkish activists who attacked IDF soldiers aboard the ship.
After several years of sour relations, ties eventually saw a moderate improvement, but both countries withdrew their ambassadors in 2018 after Erdogan leveled charges of “state terrorism” and “genocide” at Israel when dozens of Palestinians were killed in Gaza rioting on May 14 of that year, the day then-US president Donald Trump controversially moved the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
In 2021, an Israeli couple was detained for a week by Turkish authorities on suspicion of espionage after having photographed the residence of Erdogan in Istanbul. The couple was released following extensive diplomatic efforts by Herzog and Lapid, who was foreign minister at the time.
Last week, an Israeli man was reportedly arrested in Turkey after airport officials in Antalya found an ornamental bell in his luggage that they claimed was an ancient artifact.
The man, a resident of Acre, claims that the item is a mass-produced product that he bought at a local market for $100, presenting a receipt. According to Hebrew media reports, Turkish authorities have rebuffed all Israeli attempts to intervene in the case and plan to pursue smuggling charges.
Source: The Times of Israel, 19 Agust 2023
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