Turkey arrests Israeli couple for photographing Erdogan’s Constantinople Palace

The Israeli couple, charged with espionage, reportedly sent the photo to their family on WhatsApp, writing ‘Look at Erdogan’s house. See how beautiful it is’

An Israeli couple was arrested this week in Turkey on suspicion of espionage after photographing from a ferry boat the Istanbul residence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, their lawyer said.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it is aware of the incident, which occurred on Tuesday, and that it is being dealt with.

According to reports in Turkish media, they were not on ferry, but in a restaurant in Istanbul’s Camlica Tower when they took the photograph. A waiter, according to the reports, reported them to the police.

The investigation was handed over to Turkey’s counter-terrorism bureau, the reports said, adding the couple is expected to appear before court on Friday.

The sister of the woman who was arrested told the Ynet news site that the woman had sent the photograph to the family’s chat group on the WhatsApp messaging service.

Read more: Haaretz