ANKARA — Istanbul police briefly detained Yonca Verdioglu Sik, the wife of opposition lawmaker Ahmet Sik, in an espionage probe Tuesday before releasing her under a travel ban, drawing accusations from opposition politicians and rights advocates that authorities were going after an opposition lawmaker’s family to silence his criticism of the government.
What happened: Verdioglu Sik is a project coordinator at Germany’s Heinrich Boll Foundation, an independent civil society organization affiliated with Germany’s Green Party. She was detained at her Istanbul home and taken to a courthouse as part of a probe into alleged political or military espionage, the private Demiroren News Agency reported. No further details on Sik’s alleged wrongdoing were provided.
Verdioglu Sik was released later Tuesday after giving a statement to prosecutors. Videos posted on social media showed people greeting her with hugs outside the courthouse.
She was barred from leaving Turkey for an unspecified period time as part of the investigation. Al-Monitor has reached out to the Heinrich Boll Foundation for comment.
Source: www.al-monitor.com
