Police execute raids on 44 FETO-tied firms in Istanbul

ISTANBUL (AA) - Simultaneous police raids were carried out Tuesday against 44 companies in Istanbul as part of probes of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) on charges of providing funds to the terror cult, according to security sources.

Speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, the sources said that the Istanbul Counter-Financial Crimes Branch Directorate carried out the operations in companies, including one holding, in the Uskudar and Umraniye districts with riot police support.

Arrest warrants were issued for a total of 120 people, all of them company executives, the sources added.

Police searches of company buildings are continuing.

A wave of detentions following the July 15 defeated coup has seen around 26,000 people arrested across Turkey. Senior business figures, as well as members of the military, police, judges, prosecutors and teachers, have been among those targeted.

Turkey's government has said the July 15 coup attempt, which left 240 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured, was organized by followers of Fetullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, and his FETO network.

Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.

* Tutku Umac contributed to this story from Ankara.