Enver Altaylı, a former official of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), was detained in the southern city of Antalya as part of a probe into the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ). Anadolu Agency (AA) reported that Altaylı was brought to the capital Ankara after he was detained in Antalya Friday, though it did not mention whether he is accused of membership to the terrorist group blamed for last year's coup attempt. Turkish media outlets reported that Altaylı was accused of helping FETÖ suspects flee abroad.
Doğan News Agency reported that 73-year-old Altaylı would be questioned about FETÖ's activities in the 80s and its schools abroad. Doğan also reported that police confiscated "print and digital documents" in Altaylı's possession. Altaylı, who describes himself a nationalist in his biography, joined the MİT in the 60s. He left the MİT in 1977, joined the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and served as a representative of the party in Germany.
Altaylı testified earlier in an inquiry into the murder of Necip Hablemitoğlu, an academic known for his extensive work criticizing the Gülenists. He denied that he was involved in the murder, though acknowledged he knew Mustafa Özcan, a senior figure of the group. He told prosecutors that then Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel asked him in the 90s to work with Özcan to "help students from Central Asian countries settle in Turkey." A witness in the murder trial said Özcan and Altaylı contacted him to arrange a meeting with Hablemitoğlu, ostensibly to stop him from penning critical texts about Fetullah Gülen, the leader of the terrorist group. Hablemitoğlu was killed in 2002, and his murder remains unsolved.
