Turkish authorities have arrested an American diplomat working at the U.S. consulate in Beirut, for allegedly helping a Syrian national fly to Germany on a fake diplomatic passport.
Citing the police on Wednesday, the state media reports that the diplomat, identified by the initials DJK was accused of “forgery of official documents’’ and trying to help the Syrian national leave Turkey but was arrested in Istanbul.
Anadolu said police detained the two suspects on Nov. 11 and found 10,000 dollars in an envelope and a forged diplomatic passports on the U.S. diplomat.
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.
The diplomat is now in jail while the Syrian national was released, it added.
Meanwhile, it is not clear when the U.S diplomat would appear in court.
The U.S. missions in Turkey and Lebanon were not immediately available for comment.