UPDATE - Police arrest over 1,000 FETO suspects across Turkey

UPDATE WITH NUMBER OF ARRESTS AND INTERIOR MINISTER'S STATEMENT

By Orhan Onur Gemici and Sertac Bulur

ANKARA (AA) – Over 1,000 Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) suspects nested within the police force were arrested in simultaneous raids held across Turkey, the interior minister confirmed Wednesday.

“1,009 covert ‘imams’ in 72 provinces have been taken into custody so far,” Suleyman Soylu said in the capital Ankara. “This is an important step for the Republic of Turkey.”

An 8,500-officer Ankara-based operation targeted FETO police infiltration in 81 provinces.

The operations were carried out as part of a probe led by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The nationwide hunt for more suspects continues.

According to the government, FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 2016, which left 249 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara has said FETO is behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

Since the defeated coup, operations have been ongoing in the military, police and judiciary, as well as in state institutions across the country, to arrest suspects with alleged links to FETO.