ADDS NUMBER OF ARRESTS; CHANGES BYLINE
By Aylin Sirikli and Sertac Bulur
ANKARA (AA) - The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Ankara on Wednesday issued arrest warrants for 99 people over their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the terror group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.
Suspects include an air commodore, two commanders and 30 former pilots from the Turkish Air Force Command.
Ankara police department said the operations to arrest the suspects are going on across 20 provinces and that so far 25 people have been arrested.
Separately, security units began operations to arrest 22 suspected FETO-linked on-duty soldiers across 13 provinces as part of an investigation launched in the northwestern Balikesir province.
In the Balikesir-based operations, eight people have been arrested, said security sources who wished to remain anonymous due to media restrictions.
In addition, security units began another operation to arrest 71 FETO-linked military personnel across 16 provinces as part of a probe instigated in the Kocaeli province, also in the northwest.
As part of the Kocaeli-based operation, three FETO suspects, including a lieutenant and two technical sergeants, were arrested in the southwestern province of Mugla.
In the Black Sea province of Samsun, nine suspects were arrested over allegedly using the terror group’s encrypted messaging program ByLock.
Later on Wednesday, the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in northeastern Bayburt province issued an arrest warrant for 12 FETO suspects, which includes on-duty soldiers as well as dismissed and retired military officers.
In the Bayburt-based operations that were held across 12 provinces, 10 out of the 12 suspects, were arrested.
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of 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.