Turkey: Businessman Osman Kavala arrested

ISTANBUL

Turkish businessman Osman Kavala was arrested Tuesday as part of a probe into the 2016 defeated coup orchestrated by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), according to judicial sources.

Kavala, who was among nine defendants acquitted earlier in the day of criminal charges related to the 2013 Gezi Park protests, was arrested after being released from Silivri Prison in Istanbul.

In the summer of 2013, small demonstrations in Istanbul’s Gezi Park grew into a nationwide wave of protests against the government that left eight protesters and a police officer dead.

The government later said the protests were orchestrated by FETO members who had infiltrated the police and courts.

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

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

*Writing by Sibel Morrow and Davut Demircan

ISTANBUL

Turkish businessman Osman Kavala was arrested Tuesday as part of a probe into the 2016 defeated coup orchestrated by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), according to judicial sources.

Kavala, who was among nine defendants acquitted earlier in the day of criminal charges related to the 2013 Gezi Park protests, was arrested after being released from Silivri Prison in Istanbul.

In the summer of 2013, small demonstrations in Istanbul’s Gezi Park grew into a nationwide wave of protests against the government that left eight protesters and a police officer dead.

The government later said the protests were orchestrated by FETO members who had infiltrated the police and courts.

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

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

*Writing by Sibel Morrow and Davut Demircan