FETÖ cases won’t be on Turkey’s agenda this year: Justice minister

ANKARA

The cases into members of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) will no longer be on Turkey’s agenda this year, Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül has said, commenting on judicial efforts into the group widely believed to have been behind the July 2016 coup attempt.

“Our members of the judiciary have been working with great sacrifices. FETÖ cases will no longer be on Turkey’s agenda in 2018. Our expectation is for the coup-plotters to receive the necessary sentences within the boundaries of law. Our courts are definitely not working as automatic punishment machines,” Gül told the Sabah newspaper on Jan. 1.

“The courts are differentiating between the guilty and the innocent … When the people were on democracy watches in public squares after [the coup attempt], our judiciary was also on the same duty in the courthouses. Our members of the judiciary are still on guard,” he added, referring to the days after the coup attempt, when people headed out onto the streets to protest after the attempted putsch.

Gül also stressed that the government wants “fair and fast” rulings to be issued, noting that over-long trials harm the reputation of the judicial system.