Fifty-year-old Ra'anana resident Moti Mor was arrested in Antalya, Turkey Sunday night after a handgun and a cartridge full of bullets were found in his suitcase as he tried to board a flight to Israel.
Mor's wife Tali was informed Monday that her husband is expected to remain in Turkish police custody for 30 days pending trial.
Mor during previous trip to Turkey (Photo: Ilan Twiser)
Mor, a father of three, boarded a flight to Turkey at Ben-Gurion Airport on Thursday along with five friends for a planned motorcycle expedition in the mountains of Asia Minor. The licensed pistol he apparently forgot in his suitcase was not detected by airport security for reasons that are as yet unknown.
"Yesterday (Sunday) he was told by airport security (in Antalya) to empty his suitcase after a suspicious object was detected by the X-Ray scanner," Tali Mor said. "He was anxious and feared that someone may have planted the gun in his suitcase, until he realized it was his own.
"He keeps the gun along with the motorcycle riding equipment in the suitcase in the basement where the children can't find it," she added. "He packed the suitcase without noticing that the gun was inside."
Shai Berkenblit, who took part in the motorcycle trip and was at the airport when Mor was detained, said airport security personnel "were only doing their job" and did not use force.
"Moti cooperated all along. I wish that the gun would have been found in Israel," he said, "we could have just left it there."
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the embassy in Ankara has contacted Mor.
The Israel Airports Authority said in response that "the matter is being examined." Authority officials explained that passengers who arrive at the airport with guns are instructed to inform security personnel and are the permitted to board the plane while the gun is held in the cargo area.
In this case, they estimated, Mor apparently failed to inform airport security. The investigation is focusing on why security personnel failed to detect the pistol, they said.
Eli Senyor contributed to the report
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