Bayran Sabaidim, the Secretary-General of the Turkish Consulate in the island of Rhodes, is one of two Greek Muslims of Thracian origin arrested on charges of espionage in Rhodes.

He was born in Thrace, knows the Greek language very well, and was placed at the Turkish Consulate in Rhodes by order of Ankara and with the consent of the former Turkish consul.

In the photo provided by protothema.gr, the General Secretary of the Turkish Consulate is wearing a dark suit and a red tie. He is standing next to the current Turkish consul Atif Serkiroglou at last season’s new year’s event of the Rhodes Muslim Brotherhood Association, which was founded to bring the two peoples closer, but its role was deemed suspicious by Greek intelligence services who have been closely monitoring its activities.

Bayran Sabaidim arrived in Rhodes from Thrace a few years ago as an interpreter to the then Turkish consul.

However, the elected officials who had contacts with him said his translations were frequently not entirely clear, that is, he translated some things as he wished, with the result that the contacts between officials from one point onwards were done only in English to avoid any miscommunication. As one official said he was faithful to the task Erdogan had appointed to him, including promoting Turkish interests.

In this context, the Secretary-General of the Turkish Consulate recruited the 52-year-old cook from the liner on the route Rhodes – Kastelorizo ferry, ordering him to photograph the formations of Greek warships, military camps, and other sensitive areas of the island.