161 more FETO suspects arrested in Turkey

ANKARA/CANAKKALE/SAMSUN, Turkey

Turkish security forces arrested 161 more people over suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, security sources said on Friday.

A total of 84 suspects were arrested in simultaneous operations across 14 provinces as part of an investigation launched by prosecutors in the northwestern province of Canakkale, said the sources, requesting anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The operations were conducted with the support of the National Intelligence Organization and anti-smuggling and organized crime police teams.

The suspects nabbed included senior FETO members, known as “covert imams,” and individuals who were in charge of the terror group’s provincial student affairs, the sources said.

A large amount of foreign currency, weapons, and organizational documents were seized in the operations, the sources added.

In the capital Ankara, 20 suspects were arrested after prosecutors issued warrants for 60 FETO suspects believed to be “covert imams.”

Ankara prosecutors separately issued warrants for 67 suspects as part of an investigation into the terror group’s infiltration into security institutions.

A total of 49 suspects have been arrested so far, including two captains, five lieutenants, and 43 non-commissioned officers, all of whom were already dismissed or suspended from service, the sources said.

Efforts are ongoing to track down and apprehend the remaining individuals.

In the northern Samsun province, prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 16 FETO suspects suspected of infiltration into the military, the sources added.

The suspects, who include active-duty soldiers and students of a military school that has been shut down, were found to be in contact with FETO members via payphone, according to the sources.

Eight more FETO suspects who were trying to flee the country via sea were nabbed in an operation in Turkey’s western Mugla province.

Two suspected human smugglers were also apprehended in the operation, the sources added.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in Turkey, in which 251 people were martyred and 2,734 injured.

Ankara also 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.