More than 30 FETO suspects arrested across Turkey

By Salih Baran, Hulya Karpuzcu and Cihan Okur

ANKARA (AA) - More than 30 people, including 27 soldiers were arrested across Turkey for suspected links with the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind last year’s defeated coup, according to a security source Thursday.

Among the total, there were six people, including four children who were held at the Turkey-Greece border during a patrol in a military zone.

One of the suspects had been a former teacher, who was dismissed for FETO links.

After appearing before the 5th High Criminal Court in southeastern Sanliurfa province, the court ordered the suspect to be released under judicial control and was also banned from traveling after being accused of being an armed member of a terrorist organization.

The suspect was also accused of using FETO’s encrypted smart phone messaging application ByLock. His wife was released after giving testimony.

Separately, Turkish security forces also arrested 47 soldiers as part of a nationwide probe into FETO; 27 were arrested Thursday while 20 others were held Wednesday.

The arrests were made after police carried out Ankara-based operations against FETO in 12 provinces, including Balikesir, Izmir, Eskisehir, Konya, Afyonkarahisar, Ankara, Istanbul, Kayseri, Erzurum, Kirikkale and Ordu.

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

Turkey 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.