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‘Court in Turkey orders release of local Amnesty head’

Amnesty International’s local chief in Turkey, Taner Kilic, embraces his family members shortly after his release from a detention center in Turkey, on August 15, 2018. (Photo taken from social media)

A court in Turkey has ordered the release of the local chairman of Amnesty International in the Anatolian country, Taner Kilic, from prison, the UK-based rights group says, more than a year after Ankara detained him over terror charges.

“Great news: The Istanbul court has ruled for the release of Amnesty Turkey Honorary Chair Taner Kilic!!!! Expecting his release by this evening. Celebrations will start then,” Andrew Gardner, Amnesty’s senior Turkey researcher, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

Detained in the western city of Izmir in June last year, Kilic was accused of having links to the US-based Turkish opposition figure Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey says orchestrated the mid-July 2016 coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey also accuses Gulen of being behind a long-running campaign to topple the government via infiltrating the country’s institutions, particularly the army, police, and the judiciary.

Gulen and his followers strongly deny any connection to the botched putsch.

Nevertheless, the Ankara government has outlawed Gulen’s movement and branded it the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), formerly alleging that Kilic has been one of its members.

“Wonderful to see Taner and family reunited again after 15 long months and to have our dear friend back with us too! So many more remain unfairly jailed in Turkey’s prisons and for them our struggle continues,” Gardner further said.

Tens of thousands of people have been arrested in Turkey on suspicion of having links to Gulen and the failed coup. More than 110,000 others, including military staff, civil servants and journalists, have been sacked or suspended from work over the same accusations.

The international community and rights groups, including the Amnesty, have been highly critical of the Turkish president over the massive dismissals and the crackdown.

Seventy seven-year-old Gulen has already called on Ankara to end its “witch hunt” of his followers, a move he says is aimed at “weeding out anyone it deems disloyal to President Erdogan and his regime.”

Kilic’s release has come amid an unprecedented dispute between the United States and Turkey over the detention of American Christian pastor Andrew Brunson by Ankara over terrorism charges and alleged links with Gulen.

Brunson has denied the charges, calling them “shameful and disgusting.”

If the evangelical pastor is found guilty, he will face up to 35 years in jail.

The pastor’s saga has caused one of the deepest disputes between Ankara and Washington, both of them members of NATO.

Washington has imposed sanctions on Ankara over Brunson’s detention, prompting Erdogan to accuse his American counterpart, Donald Trump, of stabbing Turkey “in the back.”

The growing rift has sent the Turkish lira into a tailspin.


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