A Syrian opponent in Turkey, involved in the defense of refugees, was arrested and accused of spying for France, a source close to the matter said on Wednesday February 21, confirming information from the local press.
According to the pro-government daily Sabah, Ahmed Katie was arrested along with two other Syrian nationals in Bursa (130 km south of Istanbul) and accused
of "espionage for the benefit of the
DGSE
"
, the French foreign intelligence services. .
Sabah specifies that Katie, who has legally resided in Turkey since 2013, had been kept under close surveillance before being arrested and placed in detention.
According to a person close to the case who refused to be cited, Ahmed Katie
“was stuck”
while he was preparing to leave Turkey with his family to reach France in order to submit an asylum application when he was arrested.
Ahmed Katie's lawyer, Halim Yilmaz, could not be reached by AFP on Wednesday.
Opponent of Bashar al-Assad
Human rights activist and opponent of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, several times imprisoned and tortured in Syria, Ahmed Katie disappeared on November 27, 2023, according to his relatives.
His wife reported his disappearance on November 30.
A few days later, several Turkish and Syrian human rights organizations gave a press conference, expressing concern about his disappearance.
At the end of October, Ahmed Katie posted a message on his Facebook page, announcing that he was suspending his activities alongside Syrian refugees due to special
“circumstances”
and
“pressure”
.
Turkish authorities have recently made numerous arrests of people accused of spying for Israel or Iran.
Turkey officially hosts more than 3 million Syrian refugees who fled the war in their country.