By Emmanuel Nduka
Turkish authorities say they have arrested an American diplomat working at the US Consulate in Beirut for helping a Syrian national fly to Germany on a fake diplomatic passport.
According to state media reports, the diplomat only identified by his initials ‘DJK’, was accused of “forgery of official documents’’ and trying to help the Syrian national leave Turkey, but was later arrested in Istanbul.
Anadolu said police detained the two suspects on November 11 and found 10,000 dollars in an envelope and a forged diplomatic passport on the American diplomat.
While the diplomat is now in jail and the Syrian national released, it is not clear when the diplomat would appear in court.
Meanwhile the US missions in Turkey and Lebanon were not immediately available for comment.
Security footage showed the two meeting at Istanbul Airport, changing outfits and exchanging documents, Anadolu said.
The two men were later stopped by airport police before the plane’s departure and detained, closed-circuit TV footage shared by private news agency Demiroren shows.
