Sputnik Turkey editor-in-chief briefly detained

ISTANBUL/ANKARA

Turkish police on Sunday briefly detained editor-in-chief of Russia’s Sputnik Turkiye news agency Mahir Boztepe in Istanbul, sources said.

Three other staffers of the news agency were also taken into custody in Ankara as part of an investigation led by prosecutors in the Turkish capital.

The investigation started in line with Turkish Penal Code for "insulting the Turkish nation, Turkish republic and state institutions," and "disturbing the unity of state and the solidarity of the country," according to sources in the prosecutor's office.

All of the newsmen were released after interrogation, which also included a search at the agency's Istanbul office.

Yesterday, Sputnik Turkey had published a controversial story, titled The ‘Stolen Province’: Why Turkey Was Given A Corner Of Syria By France 80 Years Ago, about the southeastern Turkish city of Hatay, which was reclaimed from France in the Independence War.

As part of the National Pact, Hatay stood out of Turkish bounds after the signing of the Ankara Agreement with France in 1921.

In 1936, France transferred the rights of Hatay to the Damascus administration. Turkey, meanwhile, called for it to become an independent region.

Turkey made a military build-up on the border in Hatay in 1938, and a Turkish governor was appointed to the region. On July 5, some 5,000 Turkish soldiers entered Hatay.

In 1939, France withdrew troops from the region. It became a part of Turkey after a unanimous decision by the Hatay Assembly on June 23 the same year. The resolution was endorsed by France.

*Writing by Firdevs Bulut and Jeyhun Aliyev