Turkish court issues detailed ruling on MIT trucks case

By Satuk Topaloglu

ADANA, Turkey (AA) - A Turkish court on Tuesday issued a detailed verdict of prison sentences given to 27 people over the 2014 case of National Intelligence Organization (MIT) trucks stopped illegally near the Turkish-Syrian border.

In late October, 27 out of 50 suspects, including 11 members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and a former brigadier general, got prison sentences ranging from one year to heavy life sentence for stopping the MIT trucks in southern Adana and Hatay provinces.

“The first international step of July 15 coup attempt was taken with the FETO/PDY operation on MIT trucks,” said the detailed judgment issued by 13th Heavy Penal Court in Adana province.

The 722-page ruling said the incident -- in which gendarmerie officers affiliated with FETO stopped a group of MIT trucks on their way to Syria, despite government orders to let them pass -- was a planned organizational act by FETO.

The ruling also said that the incident was planned in meetings of FETO members in southeastern Diyarbakir and central Nevsehir provinces.

On July 15, 2016, FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen also orchestrated a defeated coup in Turkey, leaving 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the Turkish state through the infiltration of Institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

*Writing by Sena Guler