Turkey: Over 48,000 FETO suspects remanded in 2017

By Arif Yakici

ISTANBUL (AA) - A total of 48,305 people were remanded in custody across Turkey in 2017 for suspected links with the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, the interior minister said Tuesday.

"The number of arrests is nearly three times higher," Suleyman Soylu told a security meeting in Istanbul.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 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.