Turkish court remands filmmaker on terror charges

By Mustafa Hatipoglu, Muhammed Enes Can and Hanife Sevinc

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Turkish filmmaker was remanded in custody by an Istanbul court on Wednesday over suspected membership of the group responsible for last year’s defeated coup.

The Istanbul Penal Court of Peace remanded producer-director Ali Avci on the charge of being "a leader of an armed terrorist organization".

As part of an investigation by Istanbul prosecutors into the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), Avci was arrested by Istanbul police’s counterterrorism unit on July 13.

In a separate FETO trial, the same court remanded eight former TRT -- Turkey's state broadcaster -- employees while another was released under judicial restrictions.

The Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for 34 former TRT employees on July 12.

The suspects are believed to have used the ByLock cellphone messaging application, which is said to have been used by FETO members during the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.

ByLock is believed to have been cracked by Turkish security agencies, allowing them to identify tens of thousands of apparent FETO supporters.

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.