An Istanbul court ruled on Friday for the arrest of Eren Erdem, a former lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), for aiding and abetting an armed terror group. Erdem is accused of helping the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) during the group's attempt to seize power in 2013.
The arrest came shortly after Erdem was detained in capital Ankara following a warrant issued by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on charges of "being a member of an armed terrorist organization."
The arrest also follows Thursday's CHP's Party Caucus, during which the issue of referring some party members to the disciplinary commission was discussed.
Erdem was among the list of members facing disciplinary action, but the party took no measures against him.
The former CHP lawmaker previously tried to leave Turkey after his party failed to re-nominate him for Parliament in the June 24 elections, which will result in him losing his immunity from prosecution.
Officials at the airport notified him about an order from an Istanbul court banning him from leaving the country.
Erdem faces charges connected to reports in the Karşı daily where he had been editor-in-chief, about fake stories linked to the Gülenist Terror Group's (FETÖ) judicial coup attempt to overthrow the democratically-elected government in December 2013. He is also charged with violating the confidentiality of an investigation and exposing the identity of a secret witness, stemming from fake stories published in now-defunct Karşı.
Karşı was a mouthpiece for the coup attempt in 2013 and is known for a barrage of reports based on fabricated recordings of government officials, allegedly supplied to Erdem by FETÖ-linked police chiefs. FETÖ tried to topple the government by implicating people close to the government in a graft probe in 2013 and released a series of fake audio recordings linking senior officials to corruption.
