Turkey arrests Erdogan’s aviation technician over links to US-based opposition leader

Turkish officials have arrested an aviation technician, who was on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s helicopter flight crew on the night of the July 2016 coup attempt, on charges of affiliation to a movement led by the US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the Ankara government accuses of having masterminded the botched putsch.

Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency reported on Saturday that a court had found Tayyib Sina Dogan guilty of using the ByLock mobile application, which the Turkish government claims to be the top communication tool among members of the Gulen movement. 

Dogan and two other technicians were the helicopter crew members, who flew Erdogan and his family to Dalaman Airport from the resort city of Marmaris, where they were on holiday on the night of the coup attempt.

Dogan joined Erdogan’s aircraft team in September 2014. He was dismissed from his post under a state of emergency decree issued on November 22, 2016.

Dogan has strongly denied any links to the Gulen movement.

“I have never downloaded that application. I think it was downloaded on my phone through other software. If it is detected that the ByLock content and username belong to me, I acknowledge any punishment,” he said.

He also said he was one of the president’s flight technicians that night and had acted against the putschists.

“If I were a member of a terrorist organization, I would not let the helicopter take off. I had the key and I have knowledge of the equipment,” Dogan said.

During the botched putsch, a faction of the Turkish military declared that it had seized control of the country and that Erdogan’s government was no more in charge. The attempt was, however, suppressed a few hours later.

Ankara has since accused Gulen of having orchestrated the coup. The opposition figure is also accused of being behind a long-running campaign to topple the government via infiltrating the country’s institutions, particularly the army, police and the judiciary. 

Additionally, the Ankara government has outlawed his movement, and has branded it as the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO). 

Gulen has denounced the “despicable putsch” and reiterated that he had no role in it.

“Accusations against me related to the coup attempt are baseless and politically-motivated slanders,” he said in a statement in July 2016.

The 76-year-old cleric has also 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.”

Turkish officials have frequently called on their US counterparts to extradite Gulen, but their demands have not been taken heed of.

Since the start of a massive crackdown following the coup, 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 have been highly critical of the Turkish president over the massive dismissals and the crackdown.

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