Attorneys for suspected members of a Turkish al-Qaida cell accused in last year's suicide bombings in Istanbul acknowledged Tuesday that several of their clients traveled to Afghanistan and Chechnya, but denied they were linked to al-Qaida or the Istanbul attacks.
| "Nope. Nope. Never happened." |
On Tuesday, 12 suspects in the case appeared before an Istanbul court as part of preliminary hearings in the trial of 69 suspects accused in the bombings. The 12 are being charged with belonging to an armed group and are not key figures in the case. All 69 defendants are to appear before the court this week, although the defendants will not testify and the court is primarily dealing with technical issues, such as procedural arguments from attorneys. Attorneys acknowledged that at least half of the suspects in the courthouse Tuesday had traveled to Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Chechnya, but denied they had any connection to the November attacks that killed more than 60 people. "Their purpose in going (to Pakistan and Afghanistan) was humanitarian," said attorney Ersin Alakesen, representing suspects Mustafa Atlihan, Ahmet Demir and Nurettin Gunduz. "They didn't have anything to do with the bombings or with al-Qaida." |