UPDATE - Turkey arrests 137 FETO terror suspects in extensive operation

UPDATES WITH ARRESTS; ADDS ANOTHER OPERATION; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Yusuf Soykan Bal and Basak Akbulut Yazar

IZMIR / ISTANBUL, Turkey (AA) – At least 137 suspects were arrested on Tuesday after Turkish authorities issued arrest warrants for 214 people allegedly linked to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, according to a security source.

An operation has been launched in 41 provinces and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to nab the suspects including on-duty and dismissed soldiers, said the security source who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The hunt for the suspects comes after prosecutors in the western Izmir province seek their arrest as part of an investigation into FETO’s infiltration of the Turkish Armed Forces.

The suspects were found to have communicated with the group members via pay phones or fixed lines and some were said to be FETO member in confessors' statements.

Separately, an Istanbul-based operation has been launched across eight provinces to arrest 15 FETO terror suspects, including a teacher, a lawyer and a researcher. They were found to have used the terror group's encrypted messaging app ByLock.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 which left 251 people dead and 2,734 injured.

Ankara 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