UPDATES NUMBER OF JAILED, CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE; EDITS THROUGHOUT
By Sibel Ugurlu
ANKARA (AA) – Twenty people were convicted and sentenced to jail on Thursday for being members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind last year’s defeated coup in Turkey, according to a security source.
Among the 20 were a doctor, a businessman, and security staff.
The High Criminal Court in the northern Ardahan province handed down nine years each to a former police chief and a police officer for membership in an armed terrorist group.
They were also convicted of using ByLock, FETO’s encrypted smartphone messaging app.
In the central Kirikkale province, a high court sentenced a former police officer to over seven years in prison for using ByLock.
The 2nd High Criminal Court gave nearly eight years in prison to a former doctor and a businessman for membership in an armed terrorist group and using ByLock.
In the southern Adana province, a man was sentenced to over six years for being a member of an armed terrorist organization.
In the northeastern province of Kars, a high criminal court gave a life sentence to former Maj. Deniz Yigitbas for attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.
In the central Anatolian province of Kirikkale, a high criminal court gave sentences from more than a year to over eight years in prison to 12 suspects for being members of an armed terrorist group.
Most of the 12 suspects are former jurists and prison staff.
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup attempt of July 15, 2016, 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.