17 people jailed across Turkey for FETO links

By Sibel Ugurlu

ANKARA (AA) - A former university head was jailed Tuesday for possessing videos of opposition lawmakers.

Halil Karakoc, the ex-head of Suleyman Demirel University’s IT department, was jailed for 25 years by a court in Isparta, in southwest Turkey, for being a member of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

He allegedly had tapes of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputies and police found a hard drive in his car containing FETO messages.

Karakoc was also convicted of misconduct and forgery of official documents.

In total, 17 people were convicted and sentenced to jail on Tuesday for being members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind last year’s defeated coup, according to a security source.

The High Criminal Court in the northern Kastamonu province sentenced a former teacher to eight years and nine months in prison and another in the northwestern Kocaeli province to six years and three months for being members of an armed terrorist organization.

In the central Kirikkale province, the 1st High Criminal Court sentenced a person to two years and seven months in prison for being member of an armed terrorist organization.

In the eastern Erzurum province, a former inspector for education was handed 12 years and six months in prison by the 2nd High Criminal Court for being a member of an armed terrorist organization.

Moreover, in the eastern Malatya province, another person was sentenced to one year and 10 months and another to two years and one month in prison for being member of an armed terrorist organization.

In the Black Sea province of Rize, a suspect was sentenced to seven years and six months over the same charge.

In the northern Cankiri province, a former police officer received three years and one month for membership of an armed terrorist organization.

In Ankara, six people were charged with being FETO members and each received six years and three months in prison.

Two of the defendants were handed a 37-month sentence separately for fraud in a 2010 civil service recruitment exam.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which left 250 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.