Turkey: 18 FETO terror group suspects held

By Ismet Karakas, Baris Kilic, and Savas Guler

ANKARA / KONYA (AA) - Turkey on Tuesday arrested a total of 18 people for their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup.

Prosecutors in the capital Ankara issued warrants for 31 suspects, including eight active-duty civil servants, who are accused of using ByLock, the terror group’s encrypted smartphone messaging app.

Police arrested 12 suspects in operations launched in 10 provinces. The search for the remaining ones continues.

Separately, prosecutors in the central Konya province issued warrants for 14 suspects, six of whom have been arrested so far. Police teams continue raids to apprehend the rest.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the July 15, 2016 defeated coup, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 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.

* Writing by Seda Sevencan