Senior FETO fugitives arrested in Turkey

By Halil Demir and Cankut Tasdan

ISTANBUL/ANKARA (AA) - A senior operative of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, was arrested by the Turkish police in Istanbul on Tuesday, according to security sources.

Ibrahim Tatar, a founder of the covert structure of the FETO in Africa, was arrested from the terror group’s cell house in a police operation in the Umraniye district of Istanbul.

Wanted for being a member of an armed terror organization since 2016, the suspect was accused of using ByLock and having an account in Bank Asya, a FETO-linked bank, and it was determined by the Turkish police’ intelligence bureau that he had worked for many years in companies that supported the organization.

It was learned that Tatar served as FETO’s Democratic Republic of Congo "country imam” between 2005 and 2013, initiated the organizational structure in Congo, and established the "Dawn Schools" that support the organization in the country and served as its general director.

The police seized four mobile phones, five memory cards, a flash memory, and many written and digital materials at the address.

Meanwhile, Turkish police in Ankara arrested another fugitive senior FETO terror group member, who was dismissed from the position of lieutenant commander in the Turkish army, according to security sources.

The suspect, who was dismissed from the Turkish Naval Forces Command in 2018, was arrested as a result of the anti-organize crime police operation in a luxuries building complex where he was hiding.

According to information obtained by Anadolu Agency, the suspect, identified by the initials S.K., was wanted for attempting to destroy the constitutional order and being a member of an armed terror organization.

A special team was set up to capture the former lieutenant commander, who was determined to be a fugitive for about three years.

The team carried out the operation to the address at night.

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.