UPDATE - 6 senior alleged FETO members brought to Turkey

UPDATES WITH DETAILS, CORRECTS DATE IN BACKGROUND; REVISED HEADLINE AND DECK

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish intelligence officers on Thursday brought six alleged senior Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) members back to Turkey following operations against the terror group’s branch in the Balkans, according to security sources.

In cooperation with Kosovar intelligence, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) arrested the six men, who were said to be in charge of getting FETO members out of Turkey to go to Europe and the U.S., alongside their activities in the Balkans.

The group, brought back to Turkey by a private plane, is made up of Cihan Ozkan, Kahraman Demirez, Hasan Huseyin Gunakan, Mustafa Erdem, Osman Karakaya, and Yusuf Karabina, all wanted in Turkey as FETO fugitives.

Once in Turkey, the alleged FETO members were handed over to the judiciary.

Security units earlier found that Ozkan allegedly managed terrorist fundraising in Balkan countries and transferred the money to the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, where Gulen has lived for decades.

Demirez, allegedly in charge of FETO’s youth branch in Kosovo, is said to have recruited members of the terror group in the Balkans.

Gunakan was allegedly in charge of teachers working in FETO-linked schools in the region.

Karakaya is alleged to have played an active role in the Ergenekon case, a supposed conspiracy to overthrow the Turkish government. He is also said to have forged documents for the benefit of FETO, and to have gotten a plaque from Gulen for this work.

Others brought back to Turkey were said to be senior members in charge of FETO infiltration of various institutions and organizations in the Balkans.

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated July 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, 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.