WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — A Turkish court ordered that six human rights activists are detained on suspicion of preparing the military coup of July 15, 2016, the watchdog said in a press release Tuesday. The local director of Amnesty International, Idil Eser, is among the six detained activists.
"The United States strongly condemns the arrest of six respected human rights activists, and calls for their immediate release," Nauert said. "Prosecutions like this with little evidence or transparency undermine Turkey’s rule of law and the country’s obligations to respect individual rights."
Nauert explained the United States has encouraged the Turkish government to release the detained and remove the provisions of the state of emergency that allow indiscriminate prosecution of individuals.
The Turkish authorities have detained thousands of individuals after an unsuccessful military coup on July 15, 2016 over their alleged support for the Gulen Movement, commonly referred in Turkey as the Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organization (FETO).
Ankara considers the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen and FETO to be behind the attempted coup.
