Turkey: Warrants out for 30 alleged FETO-tied suspects

By Muhammed Enes Can, Mustafa Hatipoglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 30 suspects over their alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt, judicial sources said on Tuesday.

In 2011 the suspects are alleged to have leaked police exam questions to FETO-linked candidates, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Police raids were launched simultaneously in 22 provinces and apprehended seven of the suspects, the sources added.

Earlier Tuesday, prosecutors in Istanbul, the capital Ankara, and the Aegean Izmir province issued arrest warrants for 168 alleged FETO-linked suspects, and police detained 78 of them.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup on 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.

*Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur