Turkish court jails key FETO member

A key member of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization, the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, was arrested in a joint operation by the Turkish police and the National Intelligence Organization. 

According to information obtained by Anadolu Agency on Monday, the Security Directorate in the capital Ankara and National Intelligence Organization (MIT) had launched a probe into the covert network of the group and found out that Resat Nazmi Oral performed key duties within the terror group.

Oral was arrested on July 29 in an operation in the Batikent district of Ankara and he was referred to a court on August 9. The court put him in jail.     

Oral, codenamed Usame-Metin, joined the organisation in 1983 and he has operated as a so-called "education consultant, Southeast Anatolia Regional representative, imam for the second army, and imam for lawyer network." His codename was directly given by FETO's ringleader Fetullah Gulen, according to the obtained information.

Oral said in his testimony that he performed duties in FETO's covert services for 19 years and he also disclosed information about his relations with over 100 organisation managers and members.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which killed 251 people and injured nearly 2,200.

Turkey 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.