Turkey: 50 suspects arrested over FETO links

By Salih Baran, Hakan Mehmet Sahin, Seyhan Kirici, Muzaffer Cagliyaner, Sitki Yildiz and Zekeriya Gunes

MANISA/AGRI/OSMANIYE/BALIKESIR/EDIRNE, Turkey (AA) - Fifty suspects have been arrested across Turkey for their alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt, security sources said Monday.

In the western province of Manisa, security forces arrested 10 suspects for infiltrating the Turkish military, said a source who requested to be unnamed due to restrictions on talking to the media.

In the eastern Turkish province of Agri, 16 were arrested after a prosecutor's office issued arrest warrants, another source said.

The source added the most of the suspects were academicians.

Twenty-two FETO suspects were also arrested in the northwestern province of Edirne while attempting to flee to Greece.

Two suspects were detained in the southern and northwestern Turkish provinces of Osmaniye and Balikesir.

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.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the Turkish state through the infiltration of institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.