By Murat Kaya
ISTANBUL (AA) – A Turkish court has remanded six senior members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) in custody who were brought back to Turkey from Kosovo by Turkish intelligence, a judicial source said Wednesday.
They are accused of “international espionage” as well as “management of a terror organization,” the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking with the media.
In March, Turkish intelligence officers brought the six senior FETO members back to Turkey following operations against the terror group’s branch in the Balkans, according to security sources.
In cooperation with Kosovo’s intelligence agency, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) arrested the six men, who were said to be in charge of getting FETO members out of Turkey and into Europe and the U.S. alongside their activities in the Balkans.
The group, brought back to Turkey on a private plane, comprises Cihan Ozkan, Kahraman Demirez, Hasan Huseyin Gunakan, Mustafa Erdem, Osman Karakaya and Yusuf Karabina -- all wanted in Turkey as FETO fugitives.
Once in Turkey, they were handed over to the judiciary.
Ozkan allegedly managed terrorist fundraising in Balkan countries and transferred the money to the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, where FETO leader Fetullah Gulen has lived for decades.
Demirez, allegedly in charge of FETO’s youth branch in Kosovo, is said to have recruited members of the terror group in the Balkans.
Gunakan was allegedly in charge of teachers working in FETO-linked schools in the region.
Karakaya is alleged to have played an active role in the Ergenekon case, a supposed conspiracy to overthrow the Turkish government. He is also said to have forged documents for the benefit of FETO and to have received a plaque from Gulen for this work.
Others brought back to Turkey were said to be senior members in charge of FETO infiltration of various institutions and organizations in the Balkans.
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated July 2016 defeated coup in Turkey which left 250 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.