Turkey indicts local US consulate worker in Istanbul
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Another US consulate employee in Turkey has been indicted on charges of ties to a terrorist group, a prosecutor revealed on Friday.
Nazmi Mete Canturk has been working as a security officer at the US Consulate in Istanbul, Reuters reported, adding the indictment was dated on March 8 but recently made public.
Canturk's wife and daughter were also accused of having links to Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States. Ankara blames his followers for the failed military coup of 2016. All have denied the charges in the indictment.
According to the indictment, “evidence has been obtained regarding the suspect’s actions in line with the instructions of the [terrorist] organization” and Canturk has been under investigation.
A US State Department spokesperson told Reuters that Washington has raised the case with Ankara.
“We have expressed our concerns on multiple occasions to the Turkish government at the highest levels publicly and privately,” she said, adding that in his 30-year career Canturk was not involved in illegal activities and he had several contacts with security and government officials in Turkey.
Canturk has been under house arrest since January 2018 after being questioned by police in Istanbul.
According to reports by Reuters, his first hearing will be on June 25.
The United States and Turkey have endured strained diplomatic relations since the failed military coup in 2016, proposed Turkish weapons purchases from Russia, and US-led anti-ISIS coalition support for the Kurdish-led Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) in Syria.
Earlier this month, US senators introduced a bill that would sanction Turkish officials responsible for detaining US citizens and national consulate staff.
Metin Topuz, a translator and assistant for the Drug Enforcement Agency at the US Consulate in Istanbul appeared in court last month charges of attempting the overthrow the Turkish government. He was first arrested in October 2017.
Hamza Ulucay worked as a translator for the US Consulate in Adana and was charged with having ties with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Gulen Movement (FETO). Detained in February 2017, Ulucay was freed on time served in January.
