UPDATE - 50 FETO-linked suspects arrested in Turkey

UPDATES WITH ARRESTS IN AYDIN PROVINCE; CHANGES NUMBERS IN LEAD AND HEADLINE

By Muzahim Zahid Tuzun, Sahin Oktay, Ismail Sen and Ferdi Uzun

ANKARA, Turkey (AA) - Fifty people have been arrested across Turkey on Tuesday for suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind last year’s defeated coup, according to security officials.

Seven FETO suspects -- including a university student, a housewife, a financial advisor, an engineer and former police officers -- were arrested during simultaneous operations in central Kayseri and northwestern Edirne provinces of Turkey.

The suspects were accused of using ByLock, FETO’s encrypted smartphone messaging app, and holding accounts with Bank Asya, a lender affiliated with FETO which recently declared bankruptcy.

In northwestern Kocaeli province, police arrested another ten suspects, who are also charged with using ByLock.

In an eastern Elazig province-based operation, 11 others were held according to another source.

In another operation against FETO’s secret military structure, 22 suspects, including on-duty soldiers, were arrested in a western Aydin province-based operation launched across 17 provinces.

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup on 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.