Police arrest 77 FETO terror suspects in Turkey

By Baris Kilic, Sertac Bulur, Safak Yel and Recep Bilek

ANKARA/IZMIR/SAMSUN, Turkey (AA) – At least 77 suspects were arrested in Turkey for their alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in the country, officials said on Tuesday.

Prosecutors in the capital Ankara demanded the arrest of 20 FETO suspects, said the office in a statement.

With arrest warrants issued, police carried out simultaneous raids in five provinces in the early morning and arrested 19 suspects, the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor said in a statement.

The operation continues to nab the remaining suspect.

Meanwhile, in the Aegean Izmir province, local police raided the houses occupied by the terror group as part of investigations carried out prosecutors of various provinces.

With 25 suspects arrested, police also seized some money, mobile phones and jewelry.

Separately, in the Black Sea province of Samsun, police arrested 33 FETO suspects and confiscated a large number of documents.

The police teams are searching for five more suspects.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Turkey 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 Fahri Aksut