UPDATE-Turkey: Former top judiciary official arrested

UPDATES WITH NEW ARRESTS

By Kemal Karadag, Sertac Bulur and Muhammed Kaygin

ANKARA (AA) - The former secretary general of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) was arrested Thursday in western Turkey over alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

According to information obtained by Anadolu Agency, Mehmet Kaya, who was a fugitive, was arrested in Canakkale, a northwestern province of Turkey where he was hiding, as part of an investigation into FETO.

The arrest came during a police operation targeting 10 separate locations in Canakkale following a decision from the provincial chief prosecutor's office.

During the same operation, dubbed "absence houses", a name given to hideouts of secret FETO members, 20 others were also detained.

Separately, 11 employees of Ankara-based Gazi University including those who had been dismissed were held for suspected links with FETO following arrest warrants issued for 17 university personnel early Thursday.

In central province of Cankiri, 10 current and one retired military officers were arrested for allegedly contacting those in FETO’s private network through payphones.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured, according to the Turkish government.