Turkey: Warrants issued for former police in FETO case

By Muhammed Enes Can, Murat Kaya and Murat Paksoy

ANKARA (AA) - Arrest warrants were issued on Friday for five former police officers suspected of being members of FETO, the terror group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, according to a judicial source.

Istanbul’s 13th Heavy Penal Court ordered the warrants for Ahmet Davulcu, former deputy head of the Organized Crime Division, and former inspectors Muhammed Said Varlioglu, Muhammed Alperen Ozkan, Ahmet Kahraman and Kamil Cetiner, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The arrest warrants came when the court announced its interim decision on a case in which 44 former police officers face charges of membership or a supervisory role in the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and attempting a coup.

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.