Turkey: 10 soldiers arrested in FETO probe

By Serdar Acil and Baris Kilic

ANKARA (AA) - Ten soldiers were arrested Monday as part of a probe into the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), a security source said.

The soldiers, including an air fleet commander, were taken into custody during operations held in several provinces including Ankara, Diyarbakir, Amasya and Eskisehir, according to the source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

The source said that one of the suspects was working at the Turkish General Staff.

An operation is ongoing to apprehend five others, who are civilians suspected of being in charge of FETO-linked soldiers at the Air Force, the source added.

FETO, led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, has been accused of orchestrating the foiled coup attempt of July 2016. The defeated coup left 248 people martyred, and around 2,200 others wounded.

Turkey's government accuses the FETO terror network of staging the coup attempt as well as being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

Since the coup, operations have been ongoing in the military, police and judiciary, as well as in state institutions across the country, to arrest suspects with alleged links to FETO.