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World Briefing

Turkey: 5 Arrested Over Search of Syria-Bound Trucks

Turkey arrested four prosecutors and a gendarme officer on Wednesday after they tried to search Syria-bound trucks, belonging to the state intelligence agency, that they suspected of illegally carrying arms for rebels fighting Syria’s government. The news media said the arrests were part of a crackdown by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on followers of a Pennsylvania-based cleric he accuses of trying to oust him. Seventeen army officers were held last month in the same case. CNN Turk said that the five arrested Wednesday were charged with trying to “topple or incapacitate” the government. The country’s M.I.T. intelligence agency, regarded as strongly loyal to Mr. Erdogan, refused to allow the search last year of the trucks in Adana Province, in Turkey’s south. Officials in Ankara said they carried humanitarian aid. Mr. Erdogan is opposed to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, but Turkey denies it has delivered arms to Islamist militants.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 14 of the New York edition with the headline: Turkey: 5 Arrested Over Search of Syria-Bound Trucks. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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