Turkish courts jail 50 over FETO links

By Sibel Ugurlu

ANKARA (AA) - A total of 50 people, including former teachers and a ministry staffer, were slapped with jail terms on Tuesday for being members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

A high criminal court in the Aegean province of Izmir convicted two staffers of Gediz University.

Ali Saray, who was previously working in the Human Resources Department of the university, was handed down nine years in prison.

Murat Akpicak, former head of administrative and financial affairs of the university, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for being a member of an armed terrorist organization.

In the capital Ankara, Mustafa Suyabatmaz, a former staffer of Finance Ministry, was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison for being a FETO member and using ByLock app, an encrypted smartphone messaging application used by coup plotters.

In southeastern Sanliurfa province, a former teacher was given nine years in prison for the same charges.

Another former teacher was convicted in eastern Malatya province and given seven years and six months in prison for using ByLock.

In Black Sea province of Rize, three people were sentenced to six years for being a FETO member.

A high criminal court in Ankara sentenced 33 people; four of whom to six years and three months for being FETO members and 20 others to four years and two months for providing financial support to FETO.

In central Kirikkale province, nine people were given jail terms ranging from one to seven years in prison.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara 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.