A court in Turkey has sentenced a local staffer at the US consulate in Istanbul for helping a "terror group", the Anadolu state-run news agency reported.
Nazmi Mete Canturk, a Turkish citizen who worked at the consulate, was sentenced to five years, two months and 15 days on charges of "helping" the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), a movement which Ankara believes stood behind the failed coup in 2016, the agency added. In July, another staffer at the consulate, Metin Topuz, was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison for aiding FETÖ.
The group's leader Fetullah Gülen lives in the United States. Since 2016, the Turkish government has accused Gulen and all organisations affiliated with his, of trying to orchestrate a coup in Turkey. Thousands of people, including state and military personnel, civil activists, journalists and teachers have been suspended or dismissed over suspected links to the group. Gulen has denied the accusations.
