Nearly 50 FETO suspects arrested across Turkey

By Ozgur Alantor, Muzahim Zahid Tuzun, Yunus Icen, Mesut Karaduman, and Emrah Yasar

KASTAMONU, Turkey (AA) - Forty-eight suspects were arrested in operations Thursday targeting FETO, the terror group behind the 2106 defeated coup in Turkey, according to police sources.

Twenty-two suspects were arrested in operations centered in the Black Sea province of Kastamonu, including businesspeople and former staffers of Bank Asya, which has been linked to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

In a separate operation, five other FETO suspects were arrested by police in the central province of Kayseri, based on their use of encrypted FETO cellphone apps such as ByLock, Eagle, and Kakao.

A former staffer of shuttered FETO-linked Zaman daily based in the Mediterranean province of Antalya was also arrested for using ByLock.

The suspect was arrested in the western province of Manisa.

Another suspect believed to have FETO contacts was arrested in the northwestern province of Tekirdag.

Separately, 19 suspects -- including 15 active officers -- were arrested in simultaneous operations based in the central province of Eskisehir, police sources said.

FETO is responsible for the July 15, 2016 defeated coup attempt which martyred 250 people, and left nearly 2,200 injured. The terror group is also accused of a years-long infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.