Istanbul court remands in custody US consulate employee

A court in Istanbul remanded in custody an employee of the U. S. Consulate General Wednesday on terror charges, according to a judicial source.

The employee, identified as Metin Topuz, was accused of “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order and Turkey’s government,” and “spying”, the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to media, said.

The court said Topuz had links to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) suspects, including police commissioners and fugitive former public prosecutor Zekeriya Oz, who had been accused of "forming an organization to commit crime" and "attempting to overthrow the government by use of force" in a plot allegedly masterminded by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen.

FETO and 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.