On Tuesday, Turkey announced that it had arrested and deported three Uzbek nationals who are suspected of being involved in the murder of Rabbi Tzvi Kogan Hy”d, an Israeli-Moldovan citizen, in the United Arab Emirates over the weekend.
Sources within Turkish security, who spoke to Middle East Eye on the condition of anonymity, revealed that the operation was carried out at the request of the UAE government.
Rabbi Kogan, who had been operating a kosher market in Dubai since 2020, was killed on Saturday in an attack that UAE authorities have labeled as premeditated. Investigations into the incident found that the suspects – Alimbay Tahirovic, 28; Mahmudcan Abdurrahim, 28; and Azizbek Kamilovic, 33 – had fled the UAE after the murder.
Their movements were traced to Turkey, prompting the UAE to seek help from the Turkish government.
The Turkish National Intelligence Agency, in collaboration with Turkish police, located the suspects after tracking their flight to Istanbul. The operation was conducted discreetly to avoid alerting the individuals.
According to the same sources, the suspects were arrested during a routine traffic stop when security forces detained them in a taxi and confirmed their identities.
Once in custody, the individuals were quickly extradited to the UAE, where they are expected to face charges for Rabbi Kogan’s death, the sources said.
“The Republic of Turkey will continue its sensitive work to ensure that no criminals are housed within its borders as part of the fight against terrorism,” one of the sources commented.
Emirati officials confirmed on Sunday that three people had been arrested in connection with Kogan’s murder and that legal proceedings had begun to charge them.
In a statement released Tuesday, the UAE’s foreign ministry expressed gratitude to Turkey for its assistance in the matter.
Initially, Israeli officials blamed Turkey for the killing, since the suspects had fled there, but later revised their position. They now suspect the Uzbek nationals were hired guns working for unidentified parties, and therefore cannot attribute a clear motive or connection to the murder.
Relations between Turkey and Israel have deteriorated since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. The ongoing Gaza conflict, which has been characterized as genocide, led Turkey to impose a trade embargo on Israel in May and join an International Court of Justice case accusing Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
{Matzav.com}
Turkey is no friend of Israel or Jews, why would they help find the murderers, who may or may not have escaped to Turkey. Personally I think that the UAE & Turkey just arrested some random people, maybe even criminals, maybe they’ll punish them, maybe not, maybe they’ll free them, maybe they’ll kill them (human life is cheap by them). This to accomplish two things: look good in Western eyes, and let the real culprits and masterminds get off scott free, to חס ושלום continue their evil work.
You might believe that they’re not the suspects, but who said we’re obligated to believe that they’re lying. The Mossad or its Russian equivalent could have easily exposed such a lie. Such governments have been able to track down assassins and terrorists…
Turkey supports and shelters Hamas terrorists while at the same time spreading false accusations of “Genocide” against Israel’s government and soldiers. Turkey is perfectly happy to see Jews murdered R”L and the only reason they arrested these three killers is because the UAE requested it – had Israel made the request, Turkey would’ve probably praised the murderers as heroes. Turkey is still a vile, Israel-hating country and deserves zero gratitude for their actions in this.
Hashem gave us the UA”E to assist us in dealing with Islamists since the UAE is owned by Muslims. Thus, we can help people like Kogan. Islamists hate us, so we benefit from a middle man.
BOK BOK BOK BOK BOK BOK