UPDATE - 55 FETO suspects arrested across Turkey

ADDS OPERATIONS; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Anadolu Agency Staff

ANKARA (AA) - At least 55 suspects with alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) were arrested Tuesday across Turkey.

Twelve suspects were arrested in an Istanbul-based operation in nine provinces. It came after prosecutors in the metropolis issued arrest warrants for 16 suspects, including active duty soldiers, as well as military personnel dismissed from their professions.

In Ankara, nine were nabbed by counter-police teams. Warrants were issued for 14 suspects who were found to have used the terror group’s encrypted messaging app ByLock, according to a statement by prosecutors.

Ten more were arrested in an operation based in the eastern province of Kayseri after arrest warrants were issued for 15 suspects. That group included active duty soldiers and those dismissed from their professions.

In a central Konya-based operation conducted simultaneously in seven provinces, 15 suspects were arrested, while other suspects with arrest warrants could not be found.

The suspects were allegedly "covert imams" -- senior FETO members -- leading personnel with links to the terror group within the Turkish Armed Forces.

Eight others with suspected FETO links, including active duty soldiers as well as military personnel dismissed from their professions, were nabbed in an operation based in the Black Sea province of Trabzon and simultaneously conducted in three cities.

In the eastern Malatya province, a suspect was arrested for membership in an armed terror organization.

Efforts are underway to track down the remaining individuals.

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