US response muted as Turkey gives consulate employee harsh prison sentence
A Turkish staff member of the US Consulate in Istanbul has been handed nearly nine years in prison in what some analysts suggest is a sign that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "new era" in US-Turkish relations will be one of increasing US leniency.
A Turkish court has sentenced an employee of the US Consulate in Istanbul to nearly nine years in prison only days after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed what he called a new era in US-Turkish relations.
Metin Topuz, a Turkish citizen who served as a liaison between the US Drug Enforcement Agency and the Turkish police for three decades, was convicted of “aiding an armed terrorist organization.” An appeals court is due to decide whether to uphold the sentence.
