The Arab affairs correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Makor Rishon says he was arrested last week by Turkish authorities on the Turkey-Syria border and only freed after an intervention by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Assaf Gabor tells Channel 2 News that he was detained by the Turkish security agency while preparing a report to mark five years since the start of the Syrian civil war.
After meeting with Syrian rebels near the border, the jeep Gabor and a photographer were traveling in was stopped by Turkish police.
“We thought it was standard procedure until they took us out of the car and led us on foot to an army base,” he says.
He said he was handcuffed, tied to a chair and accused of being an Israeli spy.
Gabor says he managed to send a WhatsApp message to his editor who contacted the Israeli Foreign Ministry and was able to secure his immediate release.
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