A 29-year-old Turkish citizen who visited Israel last month and posted a picture of himself next to an Israeli flag on a Tel Aviv beach on social media was arrested, fired from his job at Turkish Airlines and forbidden to travel abroad pending a trial.
Umut Ataseven, who worked at Istanbul Airport as a visa/passport officer for Turkish Airlines as well as a freelance blogger for a Turkish paper, was in Israel as a tourist on April 6-12. He posted the picture of himself and the Israeli flag in a WhatsApp group.
A screenshot of the photo was subsequently posted on Twitter with fallacious allegations that he was a dual citizen who was taking part in a “genocide” against the Palestinians in Gaza as an Israeli soldier.
On his return to Turkey, he was fired. Four hours later, Ataseven was taken into police custody, JNS has learned. He was released on the condition that he report to a police station near his home twice a week, ahead of a trial, and was barred from leaving the country.
Nevzat Çiçek, the editor of Independent Türkçe, a Turkish affiliate of the British newspaper The Independent, where Ataseven was a freelance contributor, wrote on social media that his articles had to do with Jewish history and antiquity, and none were about the war against Hamas in Gaza.
Ataseven, who has received death threats, maintains his innocence and plans legal action to fight against the case.
About 14,000 Jews live in Turkey.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has emerged as one of the most vociferous critics of Israel in the world during the war against Hamas in Gaza triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, massacres.
Last week, both Turkish and Pegasus Airlines announced that they will relinquish their slots for takeoffs and landings at Ben-Gurion International Airport, indicating that they have no intention to resume flights to Israel soon.
The move was seen as orchestrated by Erdoğan, whose government controls the Turkish aviation industry and uses it for political and diplomatic leverage.
