05 February 2019•Update: 05 February 2019
IZMIR, BURSA, KONYA, Turkey
Across Turkey security forces arrested 62 people over alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, security sources said on Tuesday.
After 25 warrants were issued in the Aegean province of Izmir, 14 FETO suspects -- including dismissed and active-duty soldiers --- were arrested in simultaneous operations across Turkey.
Police are still seeking the remaining 11, added the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
Meanwhile, across 20 provinces -- including the capital Ankara, Istanbul, and Bursa -- police arrested 32 suspects, including 20 active-duty and three dismissed soldiers. Prosecutors in the northwestern Bursa province led the probe.
In addition, in 28 Turkish provinces -- including the central province of Konya -- police with 50 warrants arrested 16 FETO suspects for terror links.
Prosecutors in Konya had issued the warrants as part of a probe of FETO infiltration of the Turkish army. The remaining 34 suspects are still being sought.
The suspects are believed to be so-called “civil imams” in the military.
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of 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.
Reporting by Omer Sut, Ugur Ulu and Savas Guler:Writing by Can Erozden
