Turkish court to annul main coup suspect's passport

By Aylin Sirikli

ANKARA (AA) - The chief suspect in Turkey’s attempted coup had his appeal against the removal of his official passport denied Thursday, a judicial official said.

Fetullah Gulen, the leader of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) said to have been behind last July’s failed coup, used his official green Turkish passport to travel to the U.S. in 1999. He has not since returned to Turkey.

The official passport is issued to public officials and their immediate families and, unlike blue passports, give the holder visa-free travel to some European nations and makes it easier to obtain a visa for other countries such as the U.S.

As a former preacher, and therefore a civil servant, Gulen would have been entitled to the passport.

In 2015, the governor of Gulen’s home province Erzurum cancelled the documents over inaccurate information he provided in 1990. This was subsequently approved by the Council of State, Turkey’s highest administrative court.

Although he did not challenge the decision immediately, he did so prior to the coup attempt through his lawyer Nurullah Albayrak, who is now also being sought by the authorities over his ties to FETO.

Albayrak appealed to the council -- an appeal rejected Thursday, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

The case will now be passed back to an administrative court in Erzurum to be implemented.

According to the Turkish government, Pennsylvania-based Gulen orchestrated the coup attempt, which left 250 people martyred.

Ankara has said FETO is behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.