05 January 2018•Update: 05 January 2018
KONYA, Turkey
Police arrested at least 46 people on Friday for suspected links to the Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, according to a security official.
Based in the central Anatolian province of Konya, the operation was conducted across 27 provinces; 22 of the suspects were arrested by anti-smuggling and organized crime teams for alleged affiliation with the military unit of the organization, the official, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media, said.
During the Karaman leg of the operation, five female suspects were detained for allegedly aiding and abetting the organization. The anti-terror police arrested Ayse C., Ayse A., Emine M., Filiz U., and Kubra S. in this central province, just south of Konya.
Pinar K., another female suspect, was arrested in the southern Antalya province.
Separately, four other suspects, identified by the initials H.B., N.B., V.C. S.C. were caught with fake IDs in Antalya by anti-smuggling and organized crime teams as part of a probe into the terrorist organization.
Konya Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on Thursday issued arrest warrants for 70 people, 40 of whom were caught and detained the same day during simultaneous operations.
Operations are underway to arrest the remaining eight suspects, the source added.
In another operation in northern Samsun province, 12 suspects, including university students and a dismissed teacher, were arrested for allegedly using ByLock -- an app used by FETO members to communicate during and after the defeated July 16, 2016, coup.
Separately, a FETO suspect was detained in northwestern Edirne province when he attempted to escape abroad along with three others, who were helping the suspect, according to a security official, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media.
The suspect was a former Math teacher, who had been dismissed from service was wanted by police for “establishing and managing FETO/PDY armed terrorist organization” and having a record, the source added.
In southern Gaziantep province, a suspect, who was wanted for his links to FETO, was arrested after he made a transaction at a notary public, another security source said.
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup on July 15, 2016, which left 250 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.
*Mehmet Kumcagiz from Samsun, Cihan Demirci from Edirne, Metin Girgin from Kocaeli, Ridvan Korkulutas from Gaziantep contributed to this story
