8 FETO-linked suspects arrested in northwestern Turkey

By Dilan Pamuk

ANKARA (AA) - Security forces on Friday nabbed eight suspects over alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, in Turkey's northwestern province of Edirne.

According to National Defense Ministry's statement, nine suspects were first detained by border troops in the Ipsala town while trying to flee to Greece illegally.

After being transferred to the local gendarmerie command, eight of the suspects were identified to be members of the FETO terrorist organization, the statement said.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in which 251 people were 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.