Turkey: 45 FETO suspects arrested following warrants

By Tanju Ozkaya, Serdar Acil, Durmus Genc, Ferdi Akilli and Sahin Oktay

ANKARA (AA) - At least 45 people including active-duty and former military staff were arrested Tuesday for their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, according to a security source.

In the southwestern Mugla province, two active-duty captains and a sergeant were arrested under a warrant for 42 suspects thought to be part of the terrorist group's infiltration of the military, according to sources who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

In Ankara, 22 suspects found to have allegedly used FETO's encrypted messaging application ByLock were arrested. They were among 30 suspects sought with an arrest warrant.

At least seven people were also arrested in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak after prosecutors issued warrants for eight suspects.

In the northwestern Kocaeli province, prosecutors issued arrest warrants for a total of 15 members of the military, including six active-duty soldiers and seven former cadets.

Thirteen of them were caught in operations in seven provinces.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Turkey 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.