Turkey: Arrest warrants out for 82 FETO suspects

By Omer Sut

IZMIR, Turkey (AA) - Turkish prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 82 people with suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, a judicial source said Tuesday.

A prosecutor in western Izmir and the central Konya province issued the warrants for the suspects across Turkey as part of probes into the terrorist group's clandestine network within the military, according to sources who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

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

Police launched simultaneous operations across the country to nab the suspects.

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 Faruk Zorlu