Turkey detains 31 school staff in FETO probe

By Zafer Fatih Beyaz

ANKARA

At least 31 school staff were detained Wednesday as part of a probe into the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) carried out by Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's office, a police source said.

The probe concerns 137 people working as teachers, principals, vice principals and administrative staff at 11 private schools in the Turkish capital, according to the source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

Of the 137 suspects, 124 used the ByLock messaging application linked to the deadly July 15 coup attempt, the source added.

ByLock was allegedly used by FETO members, which the government blames for being behind the coup attempt.

The app is believed to have been cracked by Turkish security agencies before the coup, prompting the plotters to switch to the WhatsApp messaging service but not before tens of thousands of FETO suspects had been identified.

27 out of the 137 suspects are also included in an investigation into the 2010 civil service exam [KPSS], which has been the subject of allegations that FETO members organized cheating to allow sympathizers to achieve high scores and obtain government jobs.

Led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, FETO is accused of orchestrating Turkey’s July 15 coup plot as well as being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

The July 15 defeated coup left 246 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.