22 FETO suspects arrested in Turkey

By Abdullah Ozkul and Sahin Oktay

NIGDE/KOCAELI, Turkey (AA) - Turkish security forces arrested 22 more people over their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, security sources said on Wednesday.

Six of the suspects were nabbed in the northwestern Kocaeli province as part of a probe into FETO’s infiltration of the Turkish Armed Forces, said a source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The other 16 suspects – including active-duty military personnel, dismissed and retired soldiers – were arrested in simultaneous operations across seven provinces after prosecutors in the central Nigde province issued arrest warrants for them, another source said.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in which 251 people were killed 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 Zehra Nur Duz​​​​​​​