17 FETO suspects arrested in Turkey

By Hakan Mehmet Sahin, Gokhan Yilmaz, Burak Akay, and Cem San

ANKARA (AA) – At least 17 people were arrested on Thursday over suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, according to security sources.

Police in the northern Zonguldak province arrested 14 people after prosecutors issued warrants for 16 FETO suspects, including businessmen, advocates, and dismissed public officers, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Three more suspects – a lieutenant and two sergeants – were arrested in the northwestern Canakkale province, the sources said.

Prosecutors in the northwestern Edirne province have also issued arrest warrants for 16 more FETO suspects as part of a probe into the terror group’s infiltration into the military, the sources added.

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

Ankara 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.