18 October 2016•Update: 18 October 2016
By Zafer Fatih Beyaz and Baris Kilic
ANKARA, Turkey
At least 14 suspects associated with leading Turkish communication bodies were detained across Turkey Tuesday for alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), according to information received from the prosecutor's office in Ankara.
The suspects worked at the Information and Communication Technologies Authority and Turkey's Presidency of Telecommunication and Communication, also known as TIB.
Mehmet Odabasi, Ankara deputy chief prosecutor, gave the orders to detain a total of 49 suspects, out of whom 42 were detected in Ankara and seven others in different provinces. So far, only 14 have been detained.
One suspect – a former employee of TIB – was detained in Denizli, western Turkey, who was also found to be in possession of a million dollars and €50,000 in his bank accounts.
The messaging application “Bylock”, which is said to be have been used by FETO members during the defeated July 15 coup, was also spotted on the cell phones of 45 out of the 49 suspects.
Led by the U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, FETO is accused of orchestrating the coup plot as well as being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
The July 15 defeated coup left 241 people martyred and some 2,200 injured in Turkey.
