Prague, Nov 24 (CTK) – The two Czechs who have been detained in Turkey did not go to Syria to join terrorist actions, the Czech Foreign Ministry wrote on its website on Thursday and added that it has provided consular aid to the two Czechs.
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek said he hopes the the two Czechs will be expelled from Turkey. Nevertheless, the solution cannot be expected to be quick, he said.
The two detained Czechs, Marketa Vselichova and Miroslav Farkas, have been charged with serious crimes based on Turkish law. They have been accused of membership in an armed terrorist organisation, the ministry said.
“According to the information available to the ministry, this couple did not go to Syria with the intention to take part in terrorist actions,” the ministry wrote.
The ministry handed its assessment of the two Czechs’ trip over to the Turkish ambassador to Prague, and Zaoralek will also convey it to Turkey during his visit to the country on December 13.
The ministry wrote the consular aid to the Czech couple means the mediation of their contact with their families and with Czech consular officials in Turkey, and of the relatives and officials’ possible visits of the detainees in custody.
The consular officials will also choose a lawyer to optimally defend the Czechs and they will attend the court proceedings, if launched by Turkey, the ministry wrote.
It said it does not have any information that would enable to assess the Czech couple’s behaviour as a “terrorist attack” based on Czech law.
However, the ministry stated that Turkey views the YPG Syrian Kurdish militia, to which the detained Czechs openly adhere on social networks, as a branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey and all EU countries consider a terrorist group.
“The two Czech citizens face tough sentences, if the accusations against them are proved,” the ministry wrote.
It wrote that the Czech Republic fully condemns all forms of terrorism and has actively fought against it on many levels.
The Turkish press reported about the detention of the two Czechs due to their alleged Kurdish militia membership last Thursday. The two had undergone training with German special forces and with the French legion, the press wrote.
