31 July 2018•Update: 01 August 2018
By Baris Kilic and Zafer Fatih Beyaz
ANKARA
Turkey has documented new evidence that a key Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) suspect, Hakan Cicek, visited the terror group's leader in the U.S. prior to the coup bid in Turkey, according to judicial sources.
A probe conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s office shows that Cicek activated his SIM card at Fetullah Gulen’s home in Pennsylvania.
The Turkish government says FETO and its U.S.-based leader Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 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.
Last month, Turkish security units found cellphones dumped near an airbase in the capital Ankara which, they said, belonged to FETO second-in-command Kemal Batmaz and Cicek.
The investigation was linked to the Akinci airbase trial, a crucial probe into the coup attempt.
The report compiled by security forces says Cicek first activated the phone on March 7, 2016, and the smartphone recorded the coordinates of the Pennsylvania address as soon as it was activated.
It was determined that Cicek visited Gulen to plot the coup along with other key suspects Adil Oksuz, Kemal Batmaz, Nurettin Oruc and Harun Binis.
According to another evidence sent by the Turkish Justice Ministry to the U.S. last month, Cicek spoke to Gulen on a cellphone via a FETO member code-named “Eczaci Abdi” (translated Pharmacist Abdi) during and before the defeated coup attempt.
