U.S. Consulate employee who did DEA work has trial set in Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - A Turkish employee of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul is set to go on trial in March on charges of espionage and attempting to overthrow the Turkish government, a court decided Friday, February 1, The Associated Press reports.

A court ruled to keep Metin Topuz, a translator and fixer for the Drug Enforcement Agency, in pretrial detention until trial hearings scheduled for March 26-28, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Topuz has been in custody since October 2017.

The court accepted a 78-page indictment alleging Topuz had "very intense contacts" with police officers who led a 2013 corruption investigation involving top government officials and their families. The indictment called him a "terror criminal."

The Turkish government alleged the investigation was a "judicial coup" attempt orchestrated by a Turkish cleric who lives in the United States and leads a network that Turkey has labeled as a terror group. The government also blames the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, for a failed 2016 military coup, but he denies involvement.

Topuz told authorities he had been in touch with the officers for narcotics investigations as part of his job.

The indictment said the proposed prison sentence for attempting to overthrow the government was life imprisonment and for espionage, 15 to 20 years. Topuz is also charged with privacy violations and illegally recording personal data.

Topuz's lawyer, Halit Akalp, told The Associated Press his client rejects the accusations and said, "He has no links to the alleged crimes."