Over 30 FETO terror suspects arrested across Turkey

By Baris Kilic, Zafer Fatih Beyaz and Sertac Bulur

ANKARA (AA) - A total of 33 suspects linked to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the terror group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, were arrested in simultaneous raids across eight provinces on Wednesday, according to security officials.

In capital Ankara, police arrested four FETO suspects; the arrests came after prosecutors in Ankara and Izmir issued arrant warrants for 10 FETO suspects.

Nine former employees of the Undersecretariat of the Treasury are among those being sought with arrest warrants, according to Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Some of the suspects have been accused of using FETO terror group’s encrypted messaging app ByLock.

In an operation based in northwestern Bursa province, counter-terrorism department police arrested 27 former police personnel as part of an investigation launched by the provincial prosecution.

In central Aksaray province, the organized crime units of police arrested two fugitive FETO suspects -- Levent O. and Ibrahim M. -- in an operation that targeted "absence houses", a label given to hideouts of secret FETO members.

According to the government, FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah 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.