UPDATE - Over 135 FETO terror suspects arrested across Turkey

UPDATES WITH MORE ARRESTS ACROSS TURKEY

By Zafer Fatih Beyaz

ANKARA (AA) - At least 138 people were arrested on Thursday for their alleged links to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the terror group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, security officials said.

In capital Ankara-based operation, five of the suspects were arrested in simultaneous raids in seven different provinces, a security official said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

Previously, the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara had issued arrest warrants for 17 former teachers for their suspected links to FETO.

The suspects were accused of working for FETO-linked schools before shut down by a statutory decree, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

According to the statement, some of the suspects were accused of depositing money at the FETO-affiliated Bank Asya, whose banking license was cancelled on July 22, 2016 -- seven days after the defeated coup -- by Turkey’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency.

Some of them were also accused of using the terror group’s encrypted messaging program, ByLock.

In another operation based in the Aegean province of Balikesir, police arrested 10 soldiers, who were previously found to have be in touch with “covert imams” of the FETO by payphone, another security official said.

On Wednesday, the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Balikesir had issued arrest warrants for 22 soldiers, who worked for the country’s coast guard, naval and land forces, as part of an investigation carried out in coordination with the provincial security directorate.

Out of the total, eight FETO suspects were arrested on Wednesday during simultaneous operations conducted in 13 provinces, as well as in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

All the suspects were serving soldiers except one.

Separately, the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for 13 FETO suspects, most of whom were serving soldiers, in the Black Sea province of Tokat as part of an investigation into the “secret military structuring” of the terror group.

Also, the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in southeastern Batman province issued arrest warrants for 57 serving soldiers as part of an investigation into the “secret military structuring” of FETO.

Later on Thursday, a police team combatting against financial crimes arrested 17 people in the Aegean province of Izmir over suspected links to FETO, another security source said.

The suspects had been accused of using ByLock, and working for FETO-linked schools before being shut down by a statutory decree.

Separately, in a Manisa-based operation, another Aegean province in western Turkey, police arrested 14 FETO suspects, including serving soldiers in simultaneous raids across 14 provinces.

Police also arrested 48 suspects, among them also serving soldiers, in an Aydin-based operation.

One of the suspects was arrested in Izmir while preparing for an bid to flee to Greece using an illegal route.

In an eastern Malatya-based operation, nine people were arrested, including former teachers, academics and soldiers dismissed from positions, while police nabbed 22 others in eastern Van based-operation across 14 provinces. Another 13 serving soldiers were arrested during a counter-terrorism operation based out of central Aksaray province.

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.