Turkey: Court quashes 6 FETO life sentences

By Aylin Sirikli and Kemal Karadag

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals on Friday suspended the life sentence of six Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) members.

One of them, Mehmet Altan was acquitted in the FETO probe due to lack of evidence.

The court ruled that the two other suspects, Ahmet Altan and Nazli Ilicak, did not violate the constitutional order, but willingly aided and abetted the FETO terror group and rejected their appeal for release.

It also ruled that Fevzi Yazici, Yakup Simsek and Sukru Tugrul Ozsengul did not violate the constitutional order but were the members of the terror group.

They had been handed aggravated life sentences on Feb. 16 by an Istanbul court and had appealed against the ruling.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which martyred 251 people and injured nearly 2,200 others.

Ankara 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.

* Writing by Gozde Bayar