ISTANBUL: A local US consulate employee was sentenced to nearly nine years in prison in Turkey Thursday for "aiding an armed terror group" that Ankara blames for a failed 2016 coup, in a decision denounced by its NATO ally Washington.

Metin Topuz, who worked as a liaison officer for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Istanbul, was arrested in 2017 and was jailed Thursday for eight years and nine months, the official Anadolu news agency reported. He was accused of making contact with police and a prosecutor suspected of ties to US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara says masterminded the attempted coup in 2016. Gulen rejects the accusations.

Topuz, a Turkish citizen, denied the allegations in court, the private DHA news agency reported.

A lawyer for Topuz, contacted by AFP, confirmed the sentence and said a court of appeals is due to decide whether to uphold it.

In previous hearings, Topuz told the judge that his contacts with senior police officials or prosecutors of the time were entirely "part of my work as a translator and assistant liaison officer at the DEA."

The Istanbul court acquitted Topuz on political and military espionage charges.

The US embassy, whose staff regularly attended the hearings in support of Topuz and his family, has often said there is no credible evidence against him.

US consul general Daria Darnel and acting public affairs officer Stephanie Kuck were present at Thursday's session.

"US officials observed every hearing in the trial of Metin Topuz in Istanbul, and we are deeply disappointed in today's decision," the US embassy said on Twitter.

"We have seen no credible evidence to support this conviction and hope it will swiftly be overturned."