By Muhammed Enes Can and Mustafa Hatipoglu
ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkish prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 74 active-duty soldiers across the country over their alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt, security sources said on Friday.
Istanbul prosecutors issued the warrants for the suspects -- 72 of them noncommissioned officers -- as they reportedly used pay phones to communicate with FETO members, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.
Police raids have been conducted simultaneously in 30 provinces to apprehend the suspects, the sources added.
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup on July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 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.