Turkish court remands FETO-linked US deportee

By Murat Kaya

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Turkish court on Tuesday remanded in custody a former executive of a Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO)-linked foundation in the U.S.

Mehmet Salih Gozegir was deported from the U.S. after he was found guilty of sexual abuse of children.

The Istanbul court remanded Gozegir in custody over "founding an armed terror group and managing it".

According to the prosecutor, Gozegir confessed to meeting Ismail Buyukcelebi, who is seen as the potential successor to Fetullah Gulen.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup on July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also 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.

Gozegir, who was seeking medical education in the U.S., was detained following a police raid in 2015 and released by an American court on $50,000 bail pending trial.

He was one of the board members of the Raindrop Foundation -- one of the umbrella organizations of FETO in the U.S. -- in 2014.

Gozegir was expelled from board membership in the foundation and his deportation was decided in June 2018.