03 January 2018•Update: 03 January 2018
By Recep Bilek and Kemal Karagoz
SAMSUN/ADIYAMAN, Turkey
A total of 10 people were convicted and sentenced on Wednesday across Turkey for being members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the defeated 2016 coup attempt, according to a judicial source.
The 2nd High Criminal Court in the northern city of Samsun sentenced Enes Cetin and Yusuf Ozbek to over seven years in prison for being members of an armed terrorist group, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
Nurullah Saygin, Oktay Dolu, Samet Yilmaz and Uzeyir Aydemir received nearly seven years for the same offense.
In the southeastern province of Adiyaman, the 2nd High Criminal Court gave separate jail terms of 11 to 13 years to three defendants for being members of an armed terrorist group and for using the encrypted smartphone app ByLock, which was used by FETO members to communicate during and after the defeated coup.
Murat Ino was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in jail, while Abdulkadir Yildirim and Ahmet Kandirmaz got jail terms of 13 years and 6 months each. The court also sentenced Tarik Cetin to 9 years for being member of an armed terrorist group.
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the July 2016 defeated coup, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
Ankara accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
