Turkey seeks arrest of second U.S. diplomat, interrogates family

Turkey seeks arrest of second U.S. diplomat, interrogates family
  Turkish officials issued an arrest warrant for a second member of the U.S. diplomatic mission in the country, days after the senior liaison officer at the American consulate in Istanbul was taken into custody.

Ankara has yet to confirm the arrest warrant, but local reports say the country’s security services were seeking to question the unnamed consulate employee, who is refusing to leave U.S. consulate grounds, regarding their alleged ties to last July’s failed coup attempt.
The individual’s wife and child are already in government custody and reportedly being interrogated, after their arrest in the northern Turkish city of Amasya.
The warrant comes less than a week after Turkish security services detained Metin Topuz, a Turkish national who was working as liaison officer of the U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul. Ankara ordered his arrest as part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown on supporters of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who the Erdogan regime believes was behind last year’s attempted military coup in the country.
The identity of the U.S. consulate employee being sought by Turkish authorities, who is also accused of being a Gulen ally, was uncovered during the ongoing investigation into military and government officials linked to the coup attempt.
Mr. Topuz is reportedly being held on charges of “attempting to disrupt constitutional order, espionage and attempting to eradicate the Turkish government,” conservative Turkish news outlet Yeni Şafak reported Monday.