By Kubra Chohan
ANKARA (AA) – Eighty people were convicted and sentenced to prison Thursday for being members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind last year’s defeated coup, according to a security source.
The Istanbul 24th Heavy Penal Court ordered sentences ranging from two-and-a-half to 10 years to 44 suspects.
In the capital Ankara, four suspects were convicted for involvement in leaking the civil service recruitment exam — known as the KPSS – in 2010, from which FETO members benefited, allowing them to eventually infiltrate state institutions.
In four different hearings, the suspects were each sentenced to prison terms of six years and three months.
Also in Ankara, the former chancellor of Turgut Ozal University, who was allegedly U.S.-based FETO leader Fetullah Gulen’s dentist, was sentenced to eight years and one month.
In the Black Sea provinces of Bartin, Ordu and Rize, a total of 10 suspects, including a former teacher, were handed down prison terms ranging from six to eight years.
In western Aydin province, a so-called imam was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
In the Aegean province of Afyonkarahisar, seven people were handed prison terms of over four to seven years.
A high criminal court in the southern province of Adana gave two people prison terms ranging from seven to 10 years, while 11 people in central Kayseri province received six to seven-year terms.
The defeated coup on July 15, 2016 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.
