Trial resumes for US Consulate staffer in Istanbul

By Basak Akbulut Yazar and Aleyna Sevim

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkish prosecutors on Friday demanded up to 15 years in prison for an employee at the US Consulate in Istanbul over membership to FETO, the group behind the 2016 coup bid in Turkey.

Defendants Nazmi Mete Canturk, his wife Sevim Canturk and daughter Kevser Irem Canturk and their lawyers appeared at the Istanbul High Criminal Court no: 27.

US Istanbul Consul General Daria Darnell and consulate employees were among those attending the hearing.

Prosecutors said the employee was in communication with the defeated coup plotters and perpetrators of the December 2013 plot against government ministers and leading businesspeople.

They said the defendant was not able to make reasonable or logical explanations about his contact with the plotters.

The defendant also had used his credit card in foundations and associations which have link with FETO, they added.

Other defendants, Sevim Canturk and Kevser Irem have been requested to be acquitted due to lack of sufficient and definitive evidence.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the July 15, 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, which left 251 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.