6 FETO suspects detained at Turkish-Greek border

By Salih Baran and Eyup Avan

EDIRNE, Turkey (AA) - A married Turkish couple suspected of belonging to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) was apprehended trying to cross into Greece from northwestern Turkey on Monday.

According to a military source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking with the media, Turkish border guards intercepted six people -- including two children -- in the Edirne province's border village of Doyran.

The source said the suspects spoke Arabic and identified themselves as Syrians, but later, nearby, soldiers found a marriage certificate belonging to two of the suspects, who were in fact Turkish.

The certificate belonged to the arrested couple, both of whom were dismissed from their jobs after last year's defeated coup in Turkey. They had been accused of using FETO’s ByLock mobile messaging app and were banned from international travel.

One of the suspects was a technician at Dicle University in the southeastern Diyarbakir province and his wife was a former police officer, the source added.

Separately, Turkish security forces detained a FETO suspect university student during a regular police road check in the central Kirikkale province, a security source said on condition of anonymity.

The source also said that Kayseri prosecutors had issued an arrest warrant for the suspect, identified only as M.I.A., on charges of being a FETO member.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, 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.