By Hakan Mehmet Sahin
EDIRNE, Turkey (AA) - More than 120 people, including on duty soldiers, have been arrested over suspected links to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), as part of counter-terror operations across Turkey, police sources said on Wednesday.
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, according to the Turkish government.
In northwestern Edirne province, police rounded up eight suspects, known by the initials, B.B, H.R.C, M.A.C, A.A, S.A, M.C, A.A and A.A, in Keban district when they were preparing to illegally cross into Greece, said a police source on condition of anonymity due to restriction on speaking to the media.
Among the suspects was an editor of daily Zaman, a newspaper linked to FETO.
A so-called imam -- a key terrorist responsible for coordinating FETO cells in Air Forces Command in central Konya -- was also among the suspects, the source said, adding four of them were accused of using ByLock, an encrypted mobile phone application used by FETO members to communicate during and after the 2016 defeated coup.
In Istanbul, police arrested 41 suspects in simultaneous operations conducted across four provinces, for providing financial support to FETO-affiliated Bank Asya.
The arrests came after Anadolu Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for 60 suspects, who were staffers at Isik Publishing, a printing house affiliated to FETO-linked Kaynak Holding.
In 2015, the state appointed trustees to the company for its links to FETO.
In western Izmir province, the gendarmerie forces rounded up 16 FETO suspects, including dismissed and on-duty soldiers, in simultaneous morning raids as part of an ongoing investigation into the terror group.
Another 17 suspects were arrested in southern Kahramanmaras province for using a system for sequential search and crypto coding, which is used by FETO members.
In northwestern Tekirdag province, police arrested 15 FETO suspects, who were among 40 people who were issued arrest warrants by the provincial chief public prosecutor's office.
Another 14 FETO suspects were arrested in simultaneous operations based in seven-provinces, including capital Ankara and northern Samsun, for their links to the terror group.
Police rounded up nine suspects in simultaneous operations in eastern Malatya and central Kirikkale provinces while another two were arrested in Samsun, a Black Sea region province.
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.