Just like the Roman rulers who offered their people panem et circenses, “bread and circuses” — food and gladiators — to keep their minds occupied on things other than political and economic conditions, Recep Tayyip Erdogan likes to create trumped-up mini-crises to keep the Turkish people focusing on them rather than on their political or economic distress. And now is such a time, with the cratering of the Turkish economy, and Erdogan sinking in the opinion polls. He has already lost political control – the mayor’s offices — in Turkey’s three largest cities, Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir. The latest diversion for public consumption in Turkey is this: two Israeli tourists, Mordy and Natali Oknin, have been accused of “espionage” because they had taken a few photographs of Erdogan’s White Palace — the Ak Saray — while they were in a restaurant at the Camilca Tower, a television tower that opened earlier this year, and is the tallest in Europe. A waitress heard them talking about their photos, and reported them to the police. A report on their arrest and what’s to come is here: “Turkey weighs charges against Israeli couple detained in Istanbul — TV report,” Times of Israel, November 13, 2021:
Turkey is said to be weighing between bringing charges of espionage against an Israeli couple detained in Turkey for taking photographs of the president’s palace or charging them with a lesser offense of engaging in acts that harm the country’s national security, Israeli TV reported Saturday night.
The taking of photos of Erdogan’s huge palace (with 1,150 rooms) was hardly done on the sly. The couple took their pictures from inside a restaurant, in full view of its staff and fellow patrons. They spoke openly about what they were doing — taking those photos from afar — and loudly, so that a waitress heard them and turned them in. There was no attempt by the Oknins to hide anything. They had no idea that what they had done would be considered “espionage.” Their photos showed nothing that had been hidden from public view; Erdogan’s White Palace is one of the best known tourist sites in Istanbul, along with the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and the Roman Hippodrome.
Channel 12 reported, without citing sources, that Turkish prosecutors were intent on charging the couple and were still considering between the serious espionage charge or a lesser charge.
The news channel also reported that the Israeli government feared that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would exploit the crisis to extract some sort of price from Israel for the release of the couple.
Erdogan has tried in the past to take innocent Westerners hostage, and to obtain some reward for freeing them. He had the American Presbyterian pastor, Andrew Brunson, arrested in 2018, and charged with “terrorism” for supposedly aiding both the Gulen movement and the PKK, a Kurdish militant group. Both charges were preposterous; Brunson was a paster of a tiny, basement church with only 25 members, and could scarcely keep body and soul together. He had nothing to do with Fethulleh Gulen. But Erdogan thought he could force the Americans to hand Gulen — now living in Pennsylvania — over to him, in exchange for his freeing of Brunson. The Trump Administration quickly put paid to that notion, and instead imposed sanctions on several high-ranking Turkish officials, as well as crippling tariffs on some Turkish goods. Erdogan got the message, and after having a court convict Brunson of “terrorism” to save face, promptly released him from custody and “expelled” him back to America.
Also Saturday [Nov. 13], Walla news reported that Israel has not received an explanation from Turkish officials for the arrest and detention of the couple, Mordy and Natali Oknin, and officials increasingly suspect the arrests were made for political gain.
The Foreign Ministry still hopes the standoff can be solved through Israel’s consulate, without political actors getting involved. “But right now, it doesn’t look good,” a senior official told Walla….
Turkish authorities detained Natali and Mordy Oknin, residents of Modi’in, on Thursday for photographing Erdogan’s palace in Istanbul. The couple and their family insist they did not know it was illegal to do so….
Who would have thought that one of the largest buildings in Turkey, and a tourist attraction touted in the guide books, and pointed out by tour guides, was not to be photographed? There was no indication that the Oknins could see, from where they were standing, in the restaurant on top of the Camilca television tower, any sign below – in fact, was there one? – prohibiting the taking of photographs of Erdogan’s grandiose Ak Saray, his palatial residence fit for an Ottoman sultan. After all, nowhere in the Western world is there a prohibition on taking photos either of the seat of government, or of the residences of the highest officials. The White House, 10 Downing Street, the Elysee Palace – you can take pictures of all of them. The Oknins assumed the same would be true of the Turkish president’s residence.
Meanwhile, the couple’s family launched a fundraising campaign to cover the costs of the upcoming legal battle.
Had the Oknins been Mossad agents, there would be no need for a GoFundMe campaign; the government of Israel would have taken care of all the legal fees.
The family spoke with Lapid on Friday, who told them the ministry filed an urgent request that consular representatives visit the couple in police custody.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said the couple “do not work for any Israeli agency.”
Herzog told the couple’s family Saturday that he was “convinced of their innocence,” and reiterated that the pair have no connection to any government security agencies.
“We’re taking action to return them home quickly,” he said….
At the very highest level of Israeli officialdom – Prime Minister Bennett, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, President Herzog – many are working to free the Oknins, whom they know perfectly well are innocent. They are now just waiting for the Turkish kangaroo-court proceeding to end, the preordained conviction and punishment announced, and then – the big concern – finding out what Erdogan will be asking for, from Israel, in order to obtain freedom for the Oknins.
Turkish prosecutors told the court that the couple is suspected of spying, claiming they not only photographed Erdogan’s palace but also adjacent security checkpoints and cameras, even supposedly highlighting them before sending the photos to a third party.
The Ak Saray is of such great size — height and length — that it would require several overlapping photographs on their smartphones to capture it all. And abutting the structure on both sides, west and east, there are security checkpoints and cameras that would show up, unsurprisingly, “in the picture.” And the Turkish authorities know this perfectly well.
The couple, both of whom are Egged bus drivers, insists they only photographed the palace because they were enamored [sic] by it and sent the photos to their relatives, not knowing that doing so was illegal.
After taking the photo, Natali Oknin had sent it to a family WhatsApp group with the caption: “Such a nice house.”
Citing local authorities, the Turkish news publication Daily Sabah reported that the couple and the tour guide may face charges of “political and military espionage.”
“They are not spies,” a lawyer for the Israelis told the judge on Friday.
All in all, this is a couple [who are] bus drivers. I ask that you release them immediately to their home in Israel,” the lawyer said. But the prosecution insisted to the contrary, and the judge ruled in the latter’s favor three hours later….
The outcome of this case has already been decided by Erdogan. The innocent couple will be found guilty either of espionage or the lesser offense of “engaging in acts that harm the country’s national security.” The harsh sentences will be handed down, and then the whole point of Erdogan’s exercise – a negotiation with Israel – can begin. What might he want? Perhaps access to some Israeli military technology, such as the Iron Dome missile-defense batteries, or to some other recent weapons advance by Israel – there have been so many — such as laser beam anti-missile systems.
Erdogan didn’t need much convincing by those in his inner “circle” that the Oknins should be treated as if they were Mossad agents. After all, Erdogan’s government just a month ago rounded up 15 men whom they accused of being Mossad agents; there’s a kind of hysteria abroad in his AKP Party, akin to Attorney General Mitchell Palmer’s “Red Scare” in the 1920s, about Mossad agents hither and yon in Turkey. Whether Erdogan really believes the Oknins are spies hardly matters. He is determined to treat them as such, to put them on trial and convict them, and then to use them as pawns in negotiations with Israel over access to its weapons, or to other advances by Israeli scientists in fields where the Jewish state is known to be a world leader, including cybersecurity, solar energy, and water management.
The Oknins, and seven million other Jewish Israelis, will have learned an important lesson. Turkey used to be a favorite vacation destination for Israelis, whose tourists brought billions of dollars to the Turkish economy. . A visit to Turkey by Israelis should now be out of the question, at least as long as Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains in charge.
mortimer says
Paranoia much? And with the full complicity of paranoid citizens. Erdogan’s brainwashing is working.
The message to tourists is this: ‘Don’t use a camera in Turkey, because we don’t know why you are using it … or just skip visiting Turkey altogether.’
Tourists normally take photos of their trips, but they shouldn’t in capricious Turkey.
How can Turkey get rid of this tyrant? No free press, no pictures and wall-to-wall paranoia among the Turkish populace.
Infidel says
If they were not w/ Mossad, what was an Israeli couple doing in Turkey in the first place?
Hugh Fitzgerald says
Perhaps they liked the view.
Rarely says
There’s room in this for just plain “stupid”.
PMK says
Istanbul is an historic city. Why shouldn’t they go there? Many travel agencies offer tours of Turkey. Did Israel have some sort of travel ban or recommend not traveling to major cities in Turkey?
Infidel says
Shouldn’t people check how safe a country is, and how welcoming it might be to people from their own country before embarking on such trips? I would never visit any muslim country, knowing what muslims (at large, in general, and yes, Virginia, I know it’s not necessarily every muslim) think of non-muslims
somehistory says
I wondered that also. I’ve seen photos, video footage of the country and it is beautiful….but it is not safe for people outside to go there, so it is not worth the “view.”
Plenty of other countries one could visit and not pay such a heavy price for their innocent adventure.
born saturday says
the arrests convictions and jail terms in turkey have reached the level of ethnic cleansing since 2016 when there was a coup attempted….
the turkish state and the sultan have jailed thousants of military, journalists, opposite political parties and many other in turkey since then…
there is no doupt that ethnic cleansing is taking place in turkey and that turkey is not a safe country for tourists anymore…
the billions dollar palace upon the people who are starving in turkey and have problems providing for the basics in a now large percentage of the population, and having heard of it should be enough for any tourist to avoid travelling there… but who have heard??
that country is under a dictatorial rule since 2016 and it should have been noted to the israeli tourists before they travelled there…
many believe the attempted coup in 2016 was set up from the sultan himself, considering all the following measures and ethnic cleansing… an ethnic cleansing that has given the sultan a clear advantage for the coming elections…. without the ethnic cleansing his party would be left out of the parliament considering the hunger and the poverty on one hand, and the extravagant palaces and military programs, the plans to go to space the national aircraft and many other extravagant expenses…..
the sultan himself has become richer than trump and living the most extravagant life on public money, at the expence of some of the poorest people on earth…. ethnic cleansing explains why he gets almost 40% in the polls so far…
Walter Sieruk says
That this Israeli couple have been arrested for such a nonsensical “reason and those charges made against them are very absurd. This false accusation is really because the nation of Turkey is Islamic , although not yet officially so.
Therefore the harsh and terrible reality is that since Islam is anti-Jewish and that “charge make against just an excuse for for Muslims to practice antisemitism. For and alreadly keyboarded before “Evil is always looking for an excuse.”
Wellington says
Why would anyone travel to Erdogan’s Turkey unless absolutely necessary, especially Israelis but really any non-Muslim? Perhaps Israeli Arab Muslims would be OK but that would be about it as far as Israelis are concerned.
Infidel says
Precisely my question above!
somehistory says
Mine too, in response to yours.
It makes no sense for people to go where they are likely to be seen as the *enemy* and Jews are seen that way by every mozlum, everywhere, not just the er snake wan in turkey. Why go into the snake’s hole?
Rarely says
Might just be “stupid”.
That’s my bet.
GreekEmpress says
I’d love to see Anatolia and Constantinople where my ancestors came from. And the Hagia Sofia as well.
But I’ll never set foot there as long as the Turks are in charge.
somehistory says
I think I can empathize with you. Some of my ancestors came from Ireland, Scotland, France and Germany. I have always wanted to visit someday. It was once that my funds were too low to make any of that possible, but now…if I had gates or soros money, I would burn it rather than spend going where mozlums have been allowed to really mess things up.
Infidel says
My ancestors (3/4) were from what’s today Bangladesh, but I’m not remotely interested in visiting anywhere in that country. But I get your point: visiting the Hagia Sofia, or the remnants of Troy could be interesting if it weren’t under Turkish control
john smith says
I’ve visited many islamic countries in the past, Turkey being one of them, but the last time I visited a muslim country will definitely be the last time.
It was Egypt, and it was during the Arab uprising. We were on a cruise going down the Nile, when things started kicking off in Cairo, but didn’t think for a moment that we’d get caught up in it. Anyway, we arrived at Luxor and took a coach to visit a temple, that’s when it all started. Our coach came under attack by a mob of wild muslims, throwing bricks and rocks at us, it was absolutely terrifying. Well we eventually got back to the boat, and the army were deployed to guard us.
I was completely naive about muslims at the time, and just couldn’t understand why they didn’t like us. But I made my mind up that day that if I got out of Egypt alive, I would never ever visit an islamic country again.
somehistory says
That is terrifying, esp since you had no idea that would or could happen in a country that has been around from way long ago beginnings.
It’s really good that you made it back, and you have some things to share with those people who still believe mozlums are of the same mind-set as the rest of us…just want to live and be happy in pursuit of good and pleasant things…and really are out to take over control of the world and all that goes with it.
Infidel says
Speaking about being caught up in jihadist attacks, I was in Delhi in 2008 when there was a series of bombings there a few days before Diwali. I was there w/ my brother-in-law in a TV showroom, and in that showroom, we could see the news on several TVs about the attacks. The cellular networks were just overloaded, and people were panicking, but I told my brother-in-law that we were safest just waiting there, and not leaving before the news, which was running live, revealed that the situation was under control. My sister, who had been trying to reach either of us unsuccessfully, was greatly relieved when we got home
Of course, I’m not sure how I would have reacted if confronted face to face w/ jihadists. I don’t have any guns, and at any rate, almost no countries in the world have anything like our Second Amendment
Emilie Green says
Of all the great places in the world, many still unsullied by the presence of Muslims, this Israeli couple chooses Turkey, a Muslim country?
Mike says
Turkey was a popular destination for Israelis , it is close and was relatively civilized, except perhaps in eastern Turkey.
Christopher Watson says
Turkey shouldn’t worry; Mossad probably have plans of Erdogan’s toilet.
somehistory says
Your comment made me recall an account from Judges (chapter 3).
Some of it:
“Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.” The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left. Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose from his seat, Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly. Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them. After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, “He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the palace.”
While they were waiting, Judge Ehud was able to escape.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/ehud-the-most-interesting-judge-youve-never-heard-of.html