UPDATE - Police arrest 9 FETO terror suspects in Turkey

UPDATES WITH MORE ARRESTS, CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE

By Anadolu Agency Staff

ANKARA/TRABZON/BALIKESIR, Turkey (AA) – Turkish police arrested nine people over their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, security sources said on Thursday.

In the capital Ankara, a suspected senior member of FETO was arrested in a house in the Etimesgut district, where he was hiding, said a source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The fugitive suspect, codenamed Soner, identified only by initials N.C., has been wanted since 2017 for establishing, leading, and being a member of an armed terrorist group.

The so-called “covert imam” of FETO was dismissed from the Education Ministry and was a user of ByLock, the terror group’s encrypted messaging app, said the source. He also used fake identities to avoid being caught by the police, the source added.

Separately, police arrested eight suspects, including a suspended lieutenant, soldiers on active duty, and dismissed cadets, in simultaneous operations across three provinces as part of an investigation launched by prosecutors in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, another security source said.

The suspects were found to have communicated with the terror group members via pay phone.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in the northwestern Balikesir province issued arrest warrants for 32 FETO suspects in 21 provinces, including active, dismissed and retired police officers, said a security source.

They were accused of communicating with FETO members, the source said.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people dead 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 Zehra Nur Duz