Turkey: 16 air forces members nabbed for FETO links

By Sertac Bulur

ANKARA (AA) - Sixteen members of the Turkish Air Forces Command have been arrested across Turkey over alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt, judicial sources said on Friday.

The 16 suspects were part of 33 members of the air forces command that prosecutors in the capital Ankara issued warrants for over their alleged communications with FETO members via pay phone, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Police raids were launched simultaneously in 20 provinces to apprehend the suspects, the sources added.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup on July 15, 2016, which left 251 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.

*Writing by Erdogan Cagatay Zontur