This photo shows the aftermath of the 2013 Reyhanlı terrorist attack. (AA Photo)
Turkish intelligence has apprehended one of the Syrian perpetrators of the 2013 Reyhanlı terrorist attack in southern Türkiye, which killed 53 people, as he was attempting to flee to Europe, security sources said on Oct. 1.
Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) was monitoring Ömer el-Hatip’s activities in Syria for some time, the sources told media.
He was captured while attempting to escape to Europe by sea and was subsequently brought to Türkiye.
Two car bombs exploded in Hatay’s Reyhanlı district, near Türkiye’s border with Syria, killing 53 people and wounding scores of others on May 11, 2013.
Prior to the attack, el-Hatip entered Türkiye from Hatay to identify the locations where the attack was to be carried out, according to the sources.
He also handed over the bomb-making mechanism used in the attack to those who carried it out.
Al-Hatip and the other perpetrators were reportedly rewarded with money by the regime of Bashar al-Assad for their involvement in the attack.
Yusuf Nazik, one of the fugitive planners of the Reyhanlı attack who was brought to Türkiye from Syria in a MİT operation, was sentenced to 53 consecutive aggravated life sentences.
Other perpetrators and planners of the attack have also been apprehended over the years: Yusuf Nazik in 2018, Cengiz Sertel in 2024, and Muhammed Dib Korali and Temir Dükancı in 2025.
In the latest ruling on June 5, the defendants were also sentenced to 53 aggravated life sentences and 3,921 years in prison.
Kifah Melhem, who allegedly ordered the Reyhanlı attack, was appointed by Assad as head of the National Security Bureau in February 2024.
Melhem is known to have fled abroad following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
