Turkish court sentences senior FETO terrorist

IZMIR, Turkey

A Turkish court on Friday sentenced a senior operative of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) to over 17 years in prison, according to a judicial source.

The Heavy Penal Court no. 2 in the western province of Izmir found Yusuf Bekmezci guilty of management of an armed terror group, said the source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Bekmezci was handed 17 years and four months in prison, the source added.

Bekmezci and Mehmet Fatih Arslan, another senior member of FETO terror group, were nabbed on Jan. 20 last year by anti-terror teams at a luxury residence in Izmir.

During the operation, Akif Sari, a so-called district imam of Karsiyaka, had also been arrested from a cell house of the terror group.

They were remanded in custody by a court, and another case was opened against Bekmezci for attempting to destroy the constitutional order.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in which 251 people were martyred and 2,734 injured.

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 Sena Guler