Former Istanbul governor remanded over defeated coup

By Murat Kaya Istanbul

ISTANBUL (AA) – Former Istanbul Gov. Huseyin Avni Mutlu was remanded early Friday in connection to a recently defeated coup in Turkey.

Legal sources told Anadolu Agency correspondent at the court of Istanbul that Mutlu and 11 other suspects, including seven governors, a deputy governor and three district governors, have been remanded for being members of the Fetullah Terror Organization (FETO).

The group is headed by U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen, who is the alleged mastermind behind the failed coup, according to the Turkish government. Ankara has so far sent the U.S. two official requests for his extradition.

Mutlu was detained July 26 as part of the investigation into July 15 attempted coup.

He served as governor between 2010 and 2014, after which he took a post with the Interior Ministry as a civilian authority.

The coup attempt has resulted in 239 martyrs and nearly 2,200 others injured, according to Turkish authorities.

Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. since 1999 and is also accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.

*Can Erozden contributed to this story from Ankara.