Woman that shook Spain

Spanish families who wanted to sue Ukraine, hired Belkis Baysal and pressures started with this initiative.

Spain is shaken with the scandal.

Two generals who came to Turkey and received the bodies of death Spanish soldiers, were removed from their positions. The Chief of Joint Staff and force commanders were replaced in Spain, after the DNA tests in Turkey revealed that the bodies of 65 Spanish soldiers were handed by Spanish officials to their families, with false documents and without a complete identification.

After the crash of the Ukrainian aircraft carrying Spanish soldiers, Turkish gendarme forces rushed to site and two prosecutors , Tufan Coban and Cemil Balcilar joined them. The bodies were carefully collected , divided and put into sacks, with numbers on them. The bodies were then placed into an ice storage in Trabzon, where the Prosecutor took initiative and prepared a detailed report. Forensic Medicine teams from Istanbul took specimens from the bodies and kept them for identification purposes. 32 of these were identified but 30 could not be.

When Turkish officials were preparing to identify those, Spanish Air Forces Commander Jose Antonio Beltran Dona and General Vicente Carlos Navarro Ruiz said that "We have definitely determined that these are Spanish citizens and we undertake to carry out the necessary procedures." How have they determined that the victims were Spanish, was unclear. Turkish prosecutors had the generals sign their statement. But once they were outside, the generals forgot their word and placed bodies randomly into coffins and handed them to the families.

Should the families of victims , preparing to sue Ukraine , have not found attorney Belkis Baysal, this case would probably be forgotten.

Everything got stirred when Baysal attempted to start her business with identification. Baysal asked from the Forensic Medicine which had the body parts, to make DNA tests. Pressures started at that point. The Ankara Embassy of Spain called Baysal telling her that Deputy Secretary of Defense Jimenez Ugarte wanted to visit her.

The two met in Istanbul . Ugarte was accompanied by the Military Attache and the Legal Adviser of the Head Consul of Spain. During the meeting, Ugarte did not mention the compensation demanded by the families of victims but rather proposed to the Turkish lawyer to change the Spanish corresponding legal firm she was working with and work with the lawyers of the Defense Ministry. Baysal had meanwhile realized that the Spanish were putting pressures on Turkish prosecutors, to prevent them from having the preliminary investigation reports. A few days later, a Spanish newspaper called Baysal, telling her "The government put armed men behind you! Leave this matter!"

Baysal said "When I talked with the families in Madrid, I realized that their real issue was not compensation. They wanted to know, for whom they were praying. I promised to the mothers, to unveil this case."

Spanish officials attempted to put the blame on Turks and hide their negligence and mistakes. They said that DNA tests were not made because Turkey was an underdeveloped country.