10 FETO-linked suspects nabbed across Turkey

By Hakan Firik and Mesut Varol

BALIKESIR / VAN, Turkey (AA) - Turkish security forces arrested at least nine suspects on Saturday with alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in the country, along with a convicted FETO member.

In the northwestern province of Balikesir, police nabbed a FETO member with an outstanding prison sentence of six years and three months, convicted of membership in the terrorist group, as well as financing it, local authorities said in a statement.

The convict was transferred to the prison after routine procedures.

Separately, nine FETO terror suspects were arrested in an operation based in the eastern province of Van and conducted simultaneously in four provinces.

The provincial security forces said in a statement that two of the suspects were remanded into custody, while the other seven were released on bail and with travel restrictions.

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 also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

* Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara