An Istanbul court Wednesday ruled out release for Metin Topuz, a U.S. Consulate employee accused of links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and espionage.
Topuz was arrested two years ago for his links to police chiefs implicated in FETÖ cases.
The indictment accuses Topuz of being in frequent contact with officers who led a series of corruption raids in 2013 in Turkey, which the government has described as a "judicial coup attempt" by FETÖ. He is accused of espionage as well as arranging arms trafficking through exchanges on the WhatsApp messaging service.
In his defense in the most recent hearing, Topuz insisted his phone calls with FETÖ members were nothing but contacts with people assigned to their posts by the state. His lawyers appealed for his release. The court rejected the appeal and adjourned the hearing to December 11 to hear an eyewitness in the case.
