By Cemil Murat Budak and Cankut Tasdan
ANKARA (AA) – Turkish police arrested 44 people over their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, security sources said on Tuesday.
In a statement, prosecutors in the capital Ankara said that arrest warrants were issued for 33 suspects at the Gendarmerie General Command, including those in active duty, and retired and dismissed personnel, as part of a probe into the terror group’s infiltration into the gendarmerie.
Police arrested 27 suspects in anti-terror operations in 14 provinces. The suspects are accused of communicating with senior FETO members via pay phones or fixed lines.
Separately, 17 people were arrested in Ankara. The arrests came after warrants were issued for 20 people on Tuesday over their suspected links to the terror group.
FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people dead and 2,734 injured.
Ankara 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.