Turkish court sentences defendants in MIT trucks case

ANKARA

A Turkish court on Friday sentenced a group of seven gendarmerie officers and prosecutors over the 2014 case of National Intelligence Organization (MIT) trucks stopped illegally near the Turkish-Syrian border.

All but two of the defendants, convicted by Ankara’s 16th Supreme Court of obtaining and disclosing confidential state documents, got sentences of at least two decades behind bars.

In the incident which led to the convictions, gendarmerie officers affiliated with the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) stopped a group of MIT trucks on their way to Syria, despite government orders to let them pass.

On July 15, 2016, FETO and its U.S.-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.

In the MIT trucks case, former Gendarmerie Commander Col. Ozkan Cokay and former Brig. Gen. Hamza Celepoglu were both sentenced to about 20 years in prison.

Suleyman Bagriyanik, Adana’s former chief public prosecutor, got over 22 years in prison.

Former Adana prosecutor Ahmet Karaca was sentenced to 26 years, while former deputy public prosecutor Ahmet Karaca got nearly 19 years in prison.

Former Adana prosecutor Aziz Takci was sentenced to 26 years, and former prosecutor Ozcan Sisman was sentenced to over 17 years in prison.

* Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur