Turkey: Police arrest 29 FETO-linked terror suspects

By Mustafa Yildirim, Sergen Sezgin, Baris Yalcinkaya

IZMIR, Turkey

At least 29 people were arrested in Turkey over their suspected links to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, security sources said on Wednesday.

The arrest came after Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in western Izmir province issued arrest warrants for 35 suspects in 11 provinces as part of the investigation into terror group’s “NGO structure.”

During the operations, the police arrested 21 FETO-linked suspects accused of using ByLock -- an encrypted mobile phone application used by coup plotters -- and financing the terror group, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media.

The security forces are hunting for the remaining 14 suspects.

In a separate operation in northwestern Bursa province, anti-terror police units apprehended at least eight people, including two Turkmen nationals, on the charges of using ByLock, the sources added.

Also, in the eastern province of Erzincan, Deputy Governor Yasar Kemal Yilmaz was suspended from his post over his suspected links to the terrorist group.

Yilmaz was appointed deputy governor on Dec 1, 2016.

FETO orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey, 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.