Ankara Angry as Israel Charges Turkish Tourist With Aiding Hamas

Israel charged a detained Turkish tourist on Sunday with helping smuggle money and packages to Palestinian terror group Hamas, angering Ankara, which has vowed to retaliate.

Ebru Ozkan, 27, has been held since last month when she was detained trying to board a flight in Tel Aviv.

Ozkan was led, manacled, to the dock in an Israeli military court, where she was indicted on two counts of acting in the service of a proscribed group, one count of transferring money for enemy agents, and one count of threatening public order.

If convicted, she could face several years in jail.

Asked about Ozkan’s case on Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu referred to her as “our sister” and accused Israel of “taking deterrent measures against our citizens travelling to Jerusalem.”

“However, we will retaliate against this. Our relations will normalize when Israel stops its inhumane policies,” he said without elaborating.

One of the charges she faces is for smuggling five bottles of perfume, which her lawyer ridiculed as trivial, saying she should be released.

Though she is accused of having also brought other items, prosecutors put at the top of the list her smuggling of five bottles of perfume to be sold to raise funds for Hamas.