Gülenist Taraf daily's former editor-in-chief Ahmet Altan re-arrested

Turkish security forces detained the former editor-in-chief of the Gülenist Taraf daily Ahmet Altan over his links with the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) late Tuesday.

FETÖ member Ahmet Altan, who was released Nov. 4 under judicial control, was detained at his home in Istanbul's Kadıköy district after a court accepted an objection for his release and revoked the release order.

The warrant was issued earlier Tuesday for Altan, who before his release was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for aiding the terror group.

After prosecutors objected to his release on Nov. 6, a court agreed to the objection and revoked the decision to release him. Another court ruled for Altan's arrest on Wednesday.

Ahmet Altan is a novelist and journalist who worked for Hürriyet and Milliyet newspapers before founding Taraf, a newspaper that had been a mouthpiece for FETÖ before it was closed down in July 2016. Altan, who was the former editor-in-chief of the newspaper, was arrested on Sept. 22, 2016, over a speech he made at a TV show aired on the Gülenist-linked Can Erzincan TV on July 14, 2016, a day before the July 15 coup attempt. In his speech, Altan had implied that a coup was imminent. Mehmet Altan, a prominent academic, joined the same show and gave similar messages.

Taraf was known as a mouthpiece for Gülenists both during the time of the notorious sham trials – including the Ergenekon and Balyoz coup plot cases targeting officers of the Turkish Armed Forces, perpetrated by the infiltrators of the terror group in the judiciary and police – and after the state launched a crackdown on Gülenists in 2013.

FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which killed 251 people and injured nearly 2,200 others.

Ankara accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.