UPDATE - Top FETO figures get jail terms in major plotting case

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS OF THE VERDICT, CORRECTS KARACA'S PRISON TERM, YILMAZER'S CONVICTION, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Muhammed Enes Can, Mustafa Hatipoglu, Huseyin Kulaoglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - An Istanbul court on Friday sentenced several top figures of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), including former chiefs of police and ex-chairman of a FETO-linked television network, up to 31.5 years in prison for plotting against a publishing group in 2009.

The 14th High Criminal Court issued its final verdict in the 'Tahsiyeciler' case, handing down a jail sentence of 31 years and six months to Hidayet Karaca, the former chairman of Samanyolu TV (STV), for having a leadership role in an armed terrorist organization, defamation and forgery of official documents.

The court also sentenced ex-police intelligence chief Ali Fuat Yilmazer to 16 years and 6 months in jail for being a member of an armed terrorist group, and defamation.

The Istanbul court also found three former chiefs of police, Yurt Atayun, Omer Kose and Tufan Erguder, guilty of being members of an armed terrorist organization, defamation and forgery of official documents and sentenced them to 25 years each.

Judges decided to try FETO leader Fetullah Gulen, who has been residing in the U.S., and fugitive former chief of police, Mutlu Ekizoglu separately as the court has not received their testimonies.

Gulen, former editor-in-chief of FETO-linked Zaman newspaper, Ekrem Dumanli, and 31 other suspects -- 23 currently in custody -- were accused of plotting against the Tahsiyeciler group, according to an indictment filed in 2015.

The indictment was filed following a probe into a 2011 complaint filed by Mehmet Nuri Turan, founder of the Istanbul-based Tahsiye publishing house, which was targeted by Fetullah Gulen and FETO-linked media outlets.

The name of the group, which is now known as Tahsiyeciler, was allegedly first coined by Fetullah Gulen in a speech he gave on Apr. 6, 2009 where he hinted at the existence of a terrorist organization called Tahsiye.

The FETO leader had alleged that Tahsiye publishing house and its "Tahsiyeciler" group had links with extremist organizations.

Following the first mention of the group, FETO-linked media outlets began covering the subject, supporting the belief that there was such an organization engaged in terrorism.

The group was also allegedly defamed as a shadowy organization in the "One Turkey" TV series that used to be aired on STV, which was closed by the government following the defeated coup attempt last year.

Ali Fuat Yilmazer had also submitted a report in 2009 which alleged that Tahsiyeciler supported extremist groups like al-Qaeda because of which the group was systematically targeted.