Turkey court keeps Osman Kavala in jail

ISTANBUL

A Turkish court on Nov. 26 kept businessman Osman Kavala in jail who is accused of financing 2013 anti-government protests and playing a role in the 2016 coup attempt.

The next hearing is scheduled for January 17.

Kavala was first arrested on criminal charges related to the 2013 Gezi protests when small protests in Istanbul spread into nationwide demonstrations which left eight protesters and a police officer dead.

Turkey’s government has said the protests amounted​​​​​​​ to a coup attempt.

He was briefly released earlier this year but later remanded into custody by an Istanbul court as part of a probe into the 2016 defeated coup, with prosecutors accusing him of spying.

FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.

Turkey accuses FETÖ of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.