Turkey: Former police chief jailed over FETO conviction

By Sibel Ugurlu and Cansu Dikme

ANKARA

A northwestern court on Monday sentenced a former police chief to nine years for his links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), according to a judicial source.

The Tekirdag 2nd High Criminal Court ordered a jail term of nine years for Murat Kocabicak -- a former police chief -- on charges of being member of an armed terror organization, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

A high criminal court in Istanbul separately sentenced 15 former police officers to jail for neglecting their duties during July 15, 2016, defeated coup.

Two former police officers were sentenced to life in prison by the Istanbul court as 13 others were sentenced, ranging from 3 years to 12 years, to prison.

In a separate trial at northwestern province of Duzce, 14 former FETO-linked teachers were put behind bars for between 4 years and 9 years.

The FETO-linked former teachers were accused of using ByLock app, an encrypted mobile phone application used by FETO members to communicate during and after the defeated coup attempt.

Forty-five suspects were also arrested during simultaneous police raids in Istanbul.

The arrests came after the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for 84 people in connection with FETO’s infiltration of university dormitories.

The suspects were members of the so-called Association of “Yuksek Tahsil” (Higher Education).

Separately in central Eskisehir province, three people, including a university student and a teacher candidate, were arrested.

In a northwestern Sakarya-based operation carried out across 11 provinces, 13 former military personnel were arrested for links to FETO.

According to source, speaking anonymously due to media restrictions, the suspects were accused of infiltrating the Turkish Armed Forces.

The public prosecutor's office issued arrest warrants for 17 suspects; 13 were arrested; operations continue for nabbing the remaining four FETO suspects.

FETO, led by U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen, orchestrated the defeated July 2016 coup in Turkey, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

*Merve Aydogan contributed to this story from Ankara.