UPDATE 3-Turkey:Arrest warrants out for 363 FETO suspects

UPDATES WITH NEW OPERATION; CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE; ADDS DECISIONS BY TURKISH COURTS ON FETO CASES

By Anadolu Agency staff

ISTANBUL/BALIKESIR/EDIRNE/KOCAELI/KAYSERI, Turkey (AA) - Turkish prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 363 suspected members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, said security sources Tuesday.

In Istanbul-based operation held simultaneously in 42 cities, arrest warrants were issued for 294 suspects, said the provincial prosecutor's office in a statement.

The suspects, with 292 of them dismissed or on-duty soldiers, were alleged to be involved in the "private services structure" of the organization in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), said the statement.

Some of the suspects have been arrested and the search is underway for the remaining, it added.

In a separate operation based in the western Balikesir province, arrest warrants were issued for seven FETO suspects hiding in cell houses of the terror group and five of them were arrested, said a security source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The search is underway for the remaining two suspects, the source noted.

In another operation based in the northwestern Edirne province, arrest warrants were issued for 20 FETO suspects and police teams arrested 18 of them in simultaneous operations in 10 provinces, said the provincial prosecutor’s office.

The arrested suspects include dismissed army officers, lawyers, police officers, doctors, and teachers, it said, adding that the search for the remaining two suspects is underway.

Police teams in the northwestern Kocaeli province arrested eight FETO suspects including four on-duty gendarmerie personnel in an operation held simultaneously in eight provinces.

Also, in a separate operation based in the central Kayseri province, police teams arrested 15 FETO suspects who are on-duty soldiers found to have communicated with "covert imams" of the terror group in TSK, said the provincial prosecutor’s office in a statement.

The prosecutor's office in the central Eskisehir province issued arrest warrants for 19 FETO suspects and anti-terror police teams arrested 15 of them, said the office in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Turkish courts on Tuesday sentenced former high-ranking army officers to prison over links to the terrorist organization.

The Second High Criminal Court in the capital Ankara sentenced former lieutenant generals Metin Iyidil and Abdullah Barutcu and former Maj. Gen. Hamza Kocyigit to 12 years and six months in prison each for "helping to attempt to overthrow the constitutional order", the court announced.

Also, the Supreme Court approved over 10 years prison sentence of former Brig. Gen. Sener Topuc for being a FETO member.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of 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 Havva Kara Aydin in Ankara