UPDATE - Turkey: Police hold 16 suspects in FETO probe

UPDATES TO ADD MORE ARRESTS

By Serdar Acil, Baris Kilic and Mustafa Cavus

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish police have detained 16 suspects over their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the terror group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.

Ankara prosecutors said Wednesday that nine additional FETO suspects are being sought by the police.

The 25 suspects are believed to have used ByLock, an encrypted cellphone app used by FETO coup plotters.

In a separate counter-terror operation in the Black Sea province of Samsun, police arrested 10 suspects for using ByLock and having accounts at Bank Asya, FETO's signature bank.

The group includes a physician, said security sources who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.