Turkish court sentences 3 for US Embassy shooting

ANKARA

Prison sentences were handed down by a Turkish court to three convicts involved in a U.S. Embassy drive-by shooting in the capital Ankara, according to a judicial source.

Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court meted out the sentences to Ahmet Celikten and Osman Gundas. who carried out the attack, and Gundas' boss, Ersin Bayram, as well as Talip Bora Kilic, the owner of the vehicle allegedly used during the Aug. 20, 2018 attack.

Celikten, Gundas and Bayram were given prison time ranging from 45 months to 127 months, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Bayram was sentenced to nine years, four months and 15 days for being a member of an armed terror organization, committing hostile act against a foreign state that will harm political relations and possession of an unregistered gun.

Gundas received 10 years and seven months on the same charges.

Celikten will spend three years and nine months in prison for committing a hostile act against a foreign state that will harm political relations, and possession of unregistered gun.

Kilic was released.

According to investigators, Gundas and Bayram communicated with the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) with a mobile phone.

The anti-terror branch of Ankara's Security Directorate said Gundas apparently shared videos of Fetullah Gulen, the ringleader of an attempted coup in Turkey.

Bayram also downloaded smartphone applications linked to the terror organization.

Footage from surveillance cameras shows Celikten and Gundas scouted the area outside the embassy building 20 minutes before the attack.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader, Fetullah Gulen, is accused of orchestrating the defeated coup on July 15, 2016, 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.

*Writing by Davut Demircan and Sena Guler