By Aylin Sirikli, Baris Kilic, Zafer Fatih Beyaz and Serdar Acil
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey plans to start hearing FETO-linked cases by the start of 2017, said Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor Harun Kodalak on Thursday.
In an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency, Kodalak shed light on the ongoing FETO investigation and the fate of people involved. “We are planning to open our first cases in the FETO investigation at the beginning of 2017,” he said. “Our plan is to accelerate the process next year.”
On the over 3,000 judicial personnel, judges, and prosecutors accused of having links to FETO, he said that the prosecutors’ office would handle each defendant separately and hear individual cases for each unless there is collective involvement.
Citing the Ergenekon and Balyoz trials, of massive coup plot cases that were later discredited, he added, “We saw these cases, hundreds of suspects were already innocent. We don’t want to put all the people into a single case and end up with deadlock. We aim to hear all [the cases] separately and process each quickly.”
About Kemal Batmaz, who the office identified a “second mastermind” of the July 15 coup attempt Wednesday, Kodalak stressed that Batmaz was one of the critical minds behind the coup bid.
“He seems to be as important as Adil Oksuz,” said to be the coup’s main leader in Turkey, he added.
He said, “Some 4,359 military people and civilians are in custody as part of the investigation right now. As many as 10,000 people, including military and judicial personnel, have been investigated so far.”
FETO, led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, is accused of orchestrating Turkey’s July 15 coup plot as well as being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
The defeated July 15 coup left 246 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
