Prague, March 6 (CTK) – A Czech couple who were detained in Turkey last year and charged with being members of an armed terrorist organisation will go on trial on May 10, Irena Valentova, spokeswoman for the Czech Foreign Ministry, confirmed for CTK yesterday.
She said Czech diplomacy pays maximum attention to the case.
Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said in the past his aim is the two Czechs’ return home.
Valentova said Deputy Foreign Minister Ivo Sramek visited Turkey in February.
“Deputy minister Sramek’s negotiations in Turkey in February have helped the setting of the date of the trial to be held soon,” Valentova said.
“We believe the case will end positively,” she said.
The Turkish prosecution has proposed 7.5 to 15 years in prison for Marketa Vselichova and Miroslav Farkas.
Turkish authorities accuse the Czechs of membership of the YPG Turkish militia, which Ankara considers a terrorist organisation.
The Czechs dismiss the charges and say they are humanitarian activists.
They also say the YPG is not a terrorist organisation because it fights Islamic State militants.
In mid-December, Zaoralek said the couple did not want to join terrorist activities, but wanted to build a field hospital in the Syrian territory controlled by Kurdish units.
He said expulsion of the couple from Turkey would be a positive solution to the case.
