Ali Cura, Dmitri Chirciu
January 22, 2020•Update: January 24, 2020
KIEV, Ukraine
A fugitive suspect in the murder of a Turkish scholar researching the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) terror group will remain under house arrest, a Ukrainian court said Wednesday.
The Kiev Court of Appeals was evaluating the prosecutor office’s objection against keeping Nuri Gokhan B. under house arrest.
After the prosecutor office withdrew its objection, the case was dismissed and Gokhan B., who was arrested in December, was ordered to be kept under house arrest.
Turkey expects Ukraine to extradite Gokhan B., Turkey’s justice minister said Dec. 25.
Necip Hablemitoglu, known for his research and books on the FETO, was killed in 2002 in front of his house in Turkey's capital Ankara, but the murder was never solved.
In 2015, prosecutors in Ankara launched an investigation into FETO's involvement in unsolved murders in 2000-2013, including the killings of Behcet Oktay (2009), the head of Ankara police's special operations department, judge candidate Didem Yaylali (2013), and high court judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin (2006).
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.
