Foreign
AN Istanbul court ruled on Wednesday that a Turkish employee of the U.S consulate, Metin Topuz, will remain in prison over alleged ties to the failed 2016 coup.
Topuz has been jailed since October 2017 over alleged ties to U.S-based Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for the failed putsch by a faction in Turkish military in July 2016.
He was charged with espionage and Turkish prosecutors are seeking life imprisonment for him, according to state news agency Anadolu.
He first appeared in court in March.
Topuz’s case has been a source of tension between NATO allies Turkey and the US. A number of U.S citizens are behind bars in Turkey.
Washington and Ankara are already at odds over Ankara’s purchase of a Russian missile defence system and disagreement over Syria policy. (dpa/NAN)
– Dec. 11, 2019 @ 14:05 GMT |
Tags: Turkey court keeps US consulate worker in jail
