At least 15 FETÖ suspects get jail terms
ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency
At least 15 people, including four former Turkish military officers, were given jail terms on May 21 on charges of links to what the authorities call the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).
Former officers Brig. Gen. Murat Soysal and a Lt. Col. Hakan Çınar were given aggravated life sentence on charges of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.”
Soysal was reportedly expected to be one of the top officials exercising authority if the July 2016 coup attempt had succeeded.
Another former officer, Lt. Col. Metin Gültekin, was sentenced to 18 years and nine months in jail for being a member of an armed terrorist group and illegally obtaining classified documents related to state security.
The court also gave seven years and six months in prison to a former military officer for being a member of an armed terrorist group.
Ten other convicts were given aggravated life terms in jail, while another was given life imprisonment for violating the Turkish constitution.
Former Chief of Police Mithat Aynacı was among the suspects who was given an aggravated life sentence.
On July 15, 2016, Aynacı was spotted in a tank driven by coup plotters.
The other suspects were former soldiers Lt. Col. Osman Akkaya and Fatih Sönmez, Capt. Serdar Değirmendere and lieutenants Bora Serhat Seçkin and Burak Uluçınar.
They were charged with attempting to invade the Istanbul Police Department building on July 15, 2016 and killing five people on the night of the coup attempt.
The group is widely believed to have orchestrated the July 2016 coup attempt, during which 250 people were killed and nearly 2,200 others injured.
