Turkish courts hand jail terms to 23 over FETO links

Four separate courts in Turkey sentenced 23 people on Tuesday for being members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind last year's defeated coup, according to a judicial source.

The 2nd High Criminal Court in the southern Hatay province sentenced a former tax official to seven years and six months in prison for using FETO's encrypted smartphone application ByLock.

In southern Adana province, a high criminal court handed jail terms for up to 12 years to 20 people for using ByLock.

Among the convicts, a FETO member who was responsible for the terrorist group's activities at the Hatay court, received a 12-year jail term.

The court also sentenced a former police chief to seven years and six months in prison and a former chief of public security department was handed down six years and three months in prison.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which 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.