Turkish court frees 11 FETO suspects pending trail

By Aylin Sirikli and Baris Kilic

ANKARA (AA) - A Turkish court on Tuesday ordered the release of 11 suspects from detention pending trial in a case related to last year’s defeated coup.

The 14th Ankara High Criminal Court issued a release order for 11 of 68 suspects accused of attempting to take over the Special Forces Command in Ankara's Golbasi district during the July 15, 2016 defeated coup by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), said a judicial source who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Alperen Berat Durmus, Ertugrul Bozcal, Sedat Soysal, Selcuk Sert, Emrah Senturk, Mehmet Kuscu, Omer Faruk Cavlazoglu, Mehmet Koc, Yildiray Yilmaz and Gurbuz Turk ve Rasit Ozdilek were released on judicial control pending trial.

The court also ordered the continuation of detention for the 57 other suspects.

The next hearing in the case will be held from March 12-14, 2018.

According to the Turkish government, FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup, 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.