Ex-Istanbul police chief surrenders on FETO-links

By Arif Yakici and Halil Demir

ISTANBUL (AA) - Former Istanbul police chief Huseyin Capkin surrendered to police late Friday after a court in issued an arrest warrant earlier in the day for alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), a police source said.

Capkin arrived with his lawyer at the police station on Istanbul's Vatan Street to surrender, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The Istanbul court issued the arrest warrant Capkin and former governor of southwestern Denizli province, Abdulkadir Demir, on similar charges.

Istanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court accepted the indictments submitted to the court by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office that seeks as much as 10 years jail time each for 15 former government officials, including Capkin for suspected links to FETO. Eight of the officials face additional sentencing for financing terrorism.

Thirteen of the suspects were in custody except for Capkin and Demir. The pair had been released earlier but the court re-issued their arrest warrants.

According to the government, FETO and its U.S.-based leader, Fetullah Gulen, orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 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.