UPDATE - Turkey: 171 FETO terror group-linked suspects arrested

UPDATES WITH ARREST WARRANTS ISSUED IN NORTHERN TOKAT PROVINCE

By Sertac Bulur and Ekber Turkoglu

ANKARA/TOKAT, Turkey (AA) - Turkish police arrested 171 suspects on Monday over links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, security sources said.

The arrests on charges of using ByLock, the terror group’s encrypted smartphone messaging app, came after prosecutors in the capital Ankara issued arrest warrants for 260 suspects, including seven suspects currently abroad, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Police continue the hunt for the remaining suspects.

Separately, the prosecutors in the northern Tokat province issued arrest warrants for 15 suspects for their alleged links to FETO's crypto structure in the armed forces.

As part of an investigation into the terror group’s crypto structure in the Turkish security forces, arrest warrants were issued for two police commissioners and 13 police officers -- all dismissed by decree-law -- in 12 different provinces across the country.

The provincial gendarmerie started an operation for the arrest of suspects.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup on 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 Sibel Morrow and Jeyhun Aliyev