Turkey Seeks Arrest of Graham Fuller, Former CIA Station Chief

Prosecutors in Istanbul have issued an arrest warrant for CIA’s former Turkey station chief Graham E. Fuller, state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Friday.

Mr. Fuller is sought for his alleged role in last year’s military coup attempt and previous investigations allegedly engineered by Gulenists.

Charges against Mr. Fuller include “attempting to overthrow the government of the Turkish Republic or preventing the government from performing its functions, obtaining secret state information for political and military espionage purposes, attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.” The prosecutor’s office said Mr. Fuller is in contact with U.S. scholar Henri Barkey, who is also wanted by the Turkish authorities.

In April, Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into a number of key U.S. officials and figures, including U.S. Senator for New York Chuch Schumer (D), former Attorney for Southern District of New York City Preet Bharara, former CIA Director John Brennan, along with Mr. Fuller, over charges of attempting a coup against the Turkish government.

This week, Turkey issued an arrest warrant for Aykan Erdemir, a former opposition lawmaker and senior fellow at D.C.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, for allegedly tampering documents and passing it U.S. authorities in the case of Reza Zarrab, the Iranian gold trader. Mr. Erdemir dismissed allegations against him as “false and defamatory.”

This follows an arrest warrant issued for U.S. scholar and Turkey observer Henri Barkey last month for his alleged role in the coup attempt.