1st hearing for Buyukada terror suspects on Oct. 25

By Muhammed Enes Can, Murat Kaya, and Mustafa Hatipoglu

ISTANBUL

The first hearing for 11 terror suspects, who were arrested in a police raid during a meeting on Buyukada, an island in Istanbul, would take place on Oct. 25.

According to Istanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the hearing would be held at Istanbul’s Caglayan courthouse. The initial investigation in the case had been completed on Oct. 8.

The suspects, including eight foreign nationals, were accused of being a member of an “armed terrorist organization”. They were also accused of aiding the organization.

Among the suspects is Idil Eser, the director of Amnesty International Turkey.

They were allegedly planning provocative events meant to fuel unrest across Turkey similar to the 2013 Gezi Park protests; the prosecutors sought up to 15 years in jail terms.

The indictment -- approved by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Irfan Fidan -- was sent to the Istanbul Heavy Penal Court.

The 17-page indictment also said that one of the suspects -- Taner Kilic, chairman of Amnesty International Turkey -- had allegedly communicated with senior Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) figures abroad through the ByLock smartphone messaging app.

Kilic was remanded in custody on June 10 in Izmir, western Turkey.

ByLock was allegedly used by FETO members during last year’s coup attempt. The app is believed to have been cracked by Turkish security agencies, allowing them to identify tens of thousands of apparent FETO supporters.

Turkey accuses FETO of being a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and some 2,200 injured.