Police nab 50 FETO terror suspects across Turkey

ANKARA

Police on Friday arrested 50 suspects across Turkey over their alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, judicial sources said.

Prosecutors in the capital Ankara issued arrest warrants for 34 suspects as part of an investigation into the terror group's infiltration into the Turkish Naval Forces.

The prosecutors' statement that the suspects were found to be in contact with senior FETO terror members via pay phones.

So far, 28 suspects have been arrested in simultaneous operations in nine cities, and police are working to arrest six others.

Meanwhile, the Ankara prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 32 others over their suspected links to FETO as part of a separate probe.

The investigations were carried out to uncover the terror group’s infiltration into the police department, and the suspects included security directors as well as police commissioners who used the terror group's encrypted messaging app ByLock, according to a statement by the office of prosecutors in Ankara.

While 22 of the suspects have been taken into custody by police fighting organized crimes, efforts are underway to arrest the remaining suspects.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and 2,734 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.

*Writing by Dilan Pamuk