Turkey's main opposition leader accuses prosecutors in daily Cumhuriyet case of being Gülenists

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has accused the prosecutors in the daily Cumhuriyet case of being members of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).

"It's now better understood that the prosecutors who prepared this indictment are crypto FETÖ members," Kılıçdaroğlu told daily Cumhuriyet on July 30, adding that the prosecutors should themselves be investigated. 

An Istanbul court on July 28 ordered the release of seven Cumhuriyet journalists and executives but ruled for the continuation of arrest for another four accused on charges of "supporting terror."

The released journalists and executives were cartoonist Musa Kart, Bülent Utku, Turan Günay, Önder Çelik, Kemal Güngör, Hakan Karasinir and Güray Öz. 

However, the court rejected the release demand of journalists Ahmet Şık, Kadri Gürsel, Murat Sabuncu and board member Akın Atalay, accusing them of aiding the movement of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, widely believed to have been behind the failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt.

"Release all our friends you are keeping in jail. If the slightest respect for democracy and the law is left in Turkey, they should be freed. In fact, if the law was actually functioning then investigations should be launched against the prosecutors who wrote the indictments over misleading the court," CHP head Kılıçdaroğlu said. 

"I have read the defenses in newspapers and I thought that all Cumhuriyet staff would be released. The refusal to release four of our friends has created deep concern in me. This shows that the court ruling wasn't fair or objective and the decision was actually made elsewhere," he added. 

"It's beyond reason to accuse Cumhuriyet of supporting...