Over 48,000 FETO suspects remanded in custody in Turkey

ANKARA

More than 48,000 people have been remanded in custody across Turkey over alleged links with the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) since July 15, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Wednesday.

"So far, a total of 48,739 people have been remanded in custody as part of the fight against FETO," Soylu told a parliamentary session of the Planning and Budget Commission.

"Nineteen important operations" have been carried out since last year's defeated coup, and state institutions have been largely cleared of FETO members, he said.

The minister added the police also identified around 215,000 ByLock users, referring to a smart phone messaging app linked to FETO.

"The app was used by 147 top managers of the organization," he said, adding legal proceedings had been initiated against 23,171 ByLock users.

The app is believed to have been cracked by Turkish security agencies, allowing them to identify tens of thousands of FETO supporters within the context of last year's defeated coup.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 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.

Suleyman Soylu also touched on Turkey's fight with Daesh and the the far-left DHKP-C terrorist organizations. "In the operations against Daesh, 146 terrorists were neutralized in 838 operations in 2017."

"Twenty-two [potential Daesh terror attacks] in 2016, and 10 [...] in 2017 were prevented before being carried out," said Soylu.

Soylu added that 410 DHKP-C-linked suspects were remanded in custody and 59 DHKP-C terrorists were "neutralized" in the recent year.

The Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question were either killed or captured.

DHKP-C is responsible for a number of terror attacks in Turkey, including the 2013 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, which left a Turkish security guard martyred and a Turkish journalist injured.

The far-left group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.