Turkey: Arrest warrants out for 140 FETO suspects

By Cemil Murat Budak and Serdar Acil

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 140 people with suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, a judicial source said Tuesday.

Arrest warrants were issued for the suspects as part of a probe into the terror group's clandestine network in the Turkish Armed Forces, a statement by the prosecutors in the capital Ankara said.

Among the suspects, who were found to have communicated with FETO’s “covert imams” -- a senior FETO member -- via pay phones, were 41 on active-duty soldiers in the Land, Air and Naval Forces, the statement added.

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.

Turkey 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 Erdogan Cagatay Zontur