Turkish courts hand jail terms to 51 over FETO links

By Sibel Ugurlu

ANKARA (AA) - Two separate courts in Turkey sentenced 51 people on Friday for being members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind last year's defeated coup, according to a security source.

The 2nd High Criminal Court in the central Eskisehir province handed jail terms for up to seven years to 46 dismissed security personnel.

A high criminal court in the central province of Sivas sentenced five people for up to 10 years in jail for being FETO members and using ByLock, an encrypted smartphone messaging app used by the group to communicate during and after the defeated coup attempt.

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.