UPDATE 2 - Turkey: Police arrest 97 FETO-linked terror suspects

UPDATES WITH NUMBER OF ARRESTS; REVISES HEAD, DECK, LEDE

By Orhan Onur Gemici and Cemil Murat Budak

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish police Friday arrested 97 suspects nationwide for their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, security sources said.

The arrests came after prosecutors in Ankara issued arrest warrants for 121 suspects. Police conducted simultaneous raids in 29 provinces and arrested 62 suspects.

The suspects were accused of leaking the civil servant recruitment exam in 2011, which they used to infiltrate state institutions.

Separately, police arrested 35 suspects among 53 warrants issued by prosecutors in Ankara over FETO infiltration into the Turkish Air Force Command.

The suspects were accused of having contact with FETO members via pay phones.

Arrests were made across 27 provinces.

A hunt for the remaining suspects is underway.

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.

* Writing by Gozde Bayar