Just like the Roman rulers who offered their people panem et circenses, “bread and circuses” — food and gladiators — to keep their minds occupied on things other than political and economic conditions, Recep Tayyip Erdogan likes to create trumped-up mini-crises to keep the Turkish people focusing on them rather than on their political or economic distress. And now is such a time, with the cratering of the Turkish economy, and Erdogan sinking in the opinion polls. He has already lost political control – the mayor’s offices — in Turkey’s three largest cities, Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir. The latest diversion for public consumption in Turkey is this: two Israeli tourists, Mordy and Natali Oknin, have been accused of “espionage” because they had taken a few photographs of Erdogan’s White Palace — the Ak Saray — while they were in a restaurant at the Camilca Tower, a television tower that opened earlier this year, and is the tallest in Europe. A waitress heard them talking about their photos, and reported them to the police. A report on their arrest and what’s to come is here: “Turkey weighs charges against Israeli couple detained in Istanbul — TV report,” Times of Israel, November 13, 2021:
Turkey is said to be weighing between bringing charges of espionage against an Israeli couple detained in Turkey for taking photographs of the president’s palace or charging them with a lesser offense of engaging in acts that harm the country’s national security, Israeli TV reported Saturday night.
The taking of photos of Erdogan’s huge palace (with 1,150 rooms) was hardly done on the sly. The couple took their pictures from inside a restaurant, in full view of its staff and fellow patrons. They spoke openly about what they were doing — taking those photos from afar — and loudly, so that a waitress heard them and turned them in. There was no attempt by the Oknins to hide anything. They had no idea that what they had done would be considered “espionage.” Their photos showed nothing that had been hidden from public view; Erdogan’s White Palace is one of the best known tourist sites in Istanbul, along with the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, and the Roman Hippodrome.
Channel 12 reported, without citing sources, that Turkish prosecutors were intent on charging the couple and were still considering between the serious espionage charge or a lesser charge.
The news channel also reported that the Israeli government feared that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would exploit the crisis to extract some sort of price from Israel for the release of the couple.
Erdogan has tried in the past to take innocent Westerners hostage, and to obtain some reward for freeing them. He had the American Presbyterian pastor, Andrew Brunson, arrested in 2018, and charged with “terrorism” for supposedly aiding both the Gulen movement and the PKK, a Kurdish militant group. Both charges were preposterous; Brunson was a paster of a tiny, basement church with only 25 members, and could scarcely keep body and soul together. He had nothing to do with Fethulleh Gulen. But Erdogan thought he could force the Americans to hand Gulen — now living in Pennsylvania — over to him, in exchange for his freeing of Brunson. The Trump Administration quickly put paid to that notion, and instead imposed sanctions on several high-ranking Turkish officials, as well as crippling tariffs on some Turkish goods. Erdogan got the message, and after having a court convict Brunson of “terrorism” to save face, promptly released him from custody and “expelled” him back to America.
Also Saturday [Nov. 13], Walla news reported that Israel has not received an explanation from Turkish officials for the arrest and detention of the couple, Mordy and Natali Oknin, and officials increasingly suspect the arrests were made for political gain.
The Foreign Ministry still hopes the standoff can be solved through Israel’s consulate, without political actors getting involved. “But right now, it doesn’t look good,” a senior official told Walla….
Turkish authorities detained Natali and Mordy Oknin, residents of Modi’in, on Thursday for photographing Erdogan’s palace in Istanbul. The couple and their family insist they did not know it was illegal to do so….
Who would have thought that one of the largest buildings in Turkey, and a tourist attraction touted in the guide books, and pointed out by tour guides, was not to be photographed? There was no indication that the Oknins could see, from where they were standing, in the restaurant on top of the Camilca television tower, any sign below – in fact, was there one? – prohibiting the taking of photographs of Erdogan’s grandiose Ak Saray, his palatial residence fit for an Ottoman sultan. After all, nowhere in the Western world is there a prohibition on taking photos either of the seat of government, or of the residences of the highest officials. The White House, 10 Downing Street, the Elysee Palace – you can take pictures of all of them. The Oknins assumed the same would be true of the Turkish president’s residence.
Meanwhile, the couple’s family launched a fundraising campaign to cover the costs of the upcoming legal battle.
Had the Oknins been Mossad agents, there would be no need for a GoFundMe campaign; the government of Israel would have taken care of all the legal fees.
The family spoke with Lapid on Friday, who told them the ministry filed an urgent request that consular representatives visit the couple in police custody.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said the couple “do not work for any Israeli agency.”
Herzog told the couple’s family Saturday that he was “convinced of their innocence,” and reiterated that the pair have no connection to any government security agencies.
“We’re taking action to return them home quickly,” he said….
At the very highest level of Israeli officialdom – Prime Minister Bennett, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, President Herzog – many are working to free the Oknins, whom they know perfectly well are innocent. They are now just waiting for the Turkish kangaroo-court proceeding to end, the preordained conviction and punishment announced, and then – the big concern – finding out what Erdogan will be asking for, from Israel, in order to obtain freedom for the Oknins.
Turkish prosecutors told the court that the couple is suspected of spying, claiming they not only photographed Erdogan’s palace but also adjacent security checkpoints and cameras, even supposedly highlighting them before sending the photos to a third party.
The Ak Saray is of such great size — height and length — that it would require several overlapping photographs on their smartphones to capture it all. And abutting the structure on both sides, west and east, there are security checkpoints and cameras that would show up, unsurprisingly, “in the picture.” And the Turkish authorities know this perfectly well.
The couple, both of whom are Egged bus drivers, insists they only photographed the palace because they were enamored [sic] by it and sent the photos to their relatives, not knowing that doing so was illegal.
After taking the photo, Natali Oknin had sent it to a family WhatsApp group with the caption: “Such a nice house.”
Citing local authorities, the Turkish news publication Daily Sabah reported that the couple and the tour guide may face charges of “political and military espionage.”
“They are not spies,” a lawyer for the Israelis told the judge on Friday.
All in all, this is a couple [who are] bus drivers. I ask that you release them immediately to their home in Israel,” the lawyer said. But the prosecution insisted to the contrary, and the judge ruled in the latter’s favor three hours later….
The outcome of this case has already been decided by Erdogan. The innocent couple will be found guilty either of espionage or the lesser offense of “engaging in acts that harm the country’s national security.” The harsh sentences will be handed down, and then the whole point of Erdogan’s exercise – a negotiation with Israel – can begin. What might he want? Perhaps access to some Israeli military technology, such as the Iron Dome missile-defense batteries, or to some other recent weapons advance by Israel – there have been so many — such as laser beam anti-missile systems.
Erdogan didn’t need much convincing by those in his inner “circle” that the Oknins should be treated as if they were Mossad agents. After all, Erdogan’s government just a month ago rounded up 15 men whom they accused of being Mossad agents; there’s a kind of hysteria abroad in his AKP Party, akin to Attorney General Mitchell Palmer’s “Red Scare” in the 1920s, about Mossad agents hither and yon in Turkey. Whether Erdogan really believes the Oknins are spies hardly matters. He is determined to treat them as such, to put them on trial and convict them, and then to use them as pawns in negotiations with Israel over access to its weapons, or to other advances by Israeli scientists in fields where the Jewish state is known to be a world leader, including cybersecurity, solar energy, and water management.
The Oknins, and seven million other Jewish Israelis, will have learned an important lesson. Turkey used to be a favorite vacation destination for Israelis, whose tourists brought billions of dollars to the Turkish economy. . A visit to Turkey by Israelis should now be out of the question, at least as long as Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains in charge.
