On Friday, the fourth day of excavations on land belonging to the ISTEK educational foundation in Poyrazköy, Istanbul, another weapons cache was found.

According to the Doğan News Agency (DHA), the second cache is twice or three times as large as the first found on 21 April.

According to CNNTürk, mostly light anti-tank weapons (LAW) and hand grenades were found.

Three officers arrested

Since the first excavation finds, ten people have been taken into custody, four of them army officers.

On Friday, three officers, one retired and two on active duty, were arrested and taken to prison. They are retired Major Levent Bektaş, Commander Ercan Kireçtepe and Navy Major Emre Onat.

NTV has stated that they were arrested for membership in a terrorist organisation, violation of the weapons law and for the ownership or handing over of hazardous materials without permission.

Another noncomissioned officer who had been taken into custody at Bektaş’s house was released after questioning by the police.

Second cache

The second weapons cache which was found on land by the foundation of which former Istanbul mayor Bedrettin Dalan is the founder is said to be bigger than the first.

Excavations revealed 1,500 bullets for M16 infantry guns, 500 9 mm pistol bullets, 5 bomb traps, 11 LAW launchers, 10 hand grenades, 23 signal flares, 13 smoke bombs, detonator fuses, and 4 hand grenade fuses. (EÖ/AG)