Turkey court keeps US consulate worker in jail, next hearing in March
dpa
ISTANBUL (dpa)– A Turkish employee of the US consulate must remain in prison, more than two years after he was imprisoned over alleged ties to the failed 2016 coup, an Istanbul court ruled on Wednesday.
Metin Topuz has been jailed since October 2017 over alleged ties to US-based Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for the failed putsch by a faction in Turkish military in July 2016.
Topuz is 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 tension between NATO allies Turkey and the US. A number of US 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.
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