Turkey: Arrest warrants issued for 228 FETO suspects

By Mustafa Gungor, Meric Urer, Cankut Tastan and Hamdi Celikbas

IZMIR/ANKARA (AA) - Turkish prosecutors issued arrest warrants Tuesday for 228 people with suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), said security sources.

Prosecutors in Izmir province on Turkey’s Aegean coast issued arrest warrants for 101 on-duty sergeants and 56 former soldiers who either retired, resigned or were expelled.

Izmir-based anti-terror operations against the terror group’s crypto structure in the Turkish security forces have been simultaneously launched in 43 provinces, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The warrants were issued after the suspects were found to have communicated with members of the terror group by payphone.

In a separate operation, prosecutors in the capital Ankara issued arrest warrants for 71 suspects including 33 active-duty officials over their alleged links to the terror group's structure in the Justice Ministry.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 which left 251 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.