Turkey denies US consulate employee is detained

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Oct. 5 denied claims made by the U.S. Embassy in Ankara that a Turkish employee of its consulate general in Istanbul was detained by Turkish authorities.

A Turkish national, identified only by his initials M. T., was remanded in custody over terror charges by an Istanbul court on Oct. 4.

The U.S. Mission to Turkey issued a statement, saying the person was a “local employee” of its Istanbul consulate office.

“He is neither a staff of the U.S. Consulate nor does he have any diplomatic or consular immunity,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hüseyin Müftüoğlu in a statement.

Müftüoğlu said the “person was detained on Sept. 25” and then remanded in custody “based on terror-related charges.”

M.T. was alleged to have links with Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) suspects, including police commissioners and former public prosecutor Zekeriya Öz, a fugitive who had been accused of “forming an organization to commit crime” and “attempting to overthrow the government by use of force” in a plot masterminded by the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fetullah Gülen, a judicial source said on Oct. 5.