UPDATE - 50 FETO terror suspects arrested in Turkey

REVISES COUNT OF ARRESTED FETO SUSPECTS; CHANGES TITLE, DECK, LEAD ACCORDINGLY

By Muhammed Boztepe, Serdar Acil

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish prosecutors on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for 66 suspects affiliated with the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the defeated coup of 2016, and 50 of them have been rounded up, security officials confirmed.

According to a statement by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office in the capital Ankara, the suspects operated within the judiciary, and used an operational phone line for communication within the terror group.

Operations to arrest the remaining suspects are underway.

Separately, search operations were launched in Turkish provinces, including Istanbul, to nab 15 suspects who joined FETO cells to prepare for judiciary exams in 2013-2014 in a bid to become judges or prosecutors.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in Turkey, in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.

Ankara 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 Ali Murat Alhas