Turkey: Convict Ahmet Altan gets 5 plus years in jail

A court in Istanbul on Wednesday sentenced convict Ahmet Altan to additional five years and 11 months in prison on terror-related charges, according to a judicial source.

Earlier this month, a court had sentenced Altan to life in prison after convicting him over links to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

This time Altan was convicted for making propaganda for the PKK terror group and was given three years in prison on the charge, the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.

The Istanbul court also handed down two years and 11 months in jail time to him for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

On Feb. 16, Altan and five other people -- Nazlı Ilıcak, Mehmet Altan, Fevzi Yazıcı, Yakup Şimşek and Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengul -- were given aggravated life sentences for links to FETO, the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.

They were also convicted of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which martyred 250 people and injured nearly 2,200 others.

Ankara accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

In the wake of the defeated coup, tens of thousands of FETO suspects have been arrested, including many in the armed forces, police, judicial system, education, and business sectors.