April 25, 2016•Update: April 25, 2016
By Mustafa Hatipoglu and Filiz Kinik
ISTANBUL
A man suspected of providing financial support to the parallel state or Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO/PDY) was caught on Monday, according to police sources.
The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, said Suleyman Siddik G. was caught at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport while he was about to travel to Italy.
Siddik G. is among 34 other suspects listed on warrants issued by the Istanbul-based Anadolu 1st Court of Peace, and feared to have traveled to the U.S. after Italy.
On April 18 the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for 140 people, including Bank Asya employees, FETO/PDY executives, and businessmen.
The FETO/PDY group is headed by U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen, who runs a network of schools and commercial enterprises in Turkey and worldwide and is said to be behind a December 2013 corruption investigation into senior Turkish government figures, including ex-ministers.
Gulen is also the main suspect in a December 2013 probe of mass wiretapping which targeted more than 7,000 people.
Since early 2014, investigations into the parallel state have seen hundreds of civil servants, including police and public prosecutors, arrested or reassigned.
Anadolu Agency's Servet Gunerigok contributed to this report from Ankara
