Turkey arrests 5 FETO-linked terror suspects

By Ekber Turkoglu and Ramazan Kaya

TOKAT / YOZGAT, Turkey (AA) - Police in Turkey arrested five people for their suspected links to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in the country, according to security sources on Thursday.

A suspect, identified only by the initials V.K., wanted by the prosecutors as part of the FETO investigation in the capital Ankara, was detained by the anti-terror police teams in Tokat province, Black Sea region.

V.K. is accused of being a "member of an armed terrorist organization."

Separately, four suspects were held in simultaneous operations by anti-smuggling and organized crime police teams in the central Yozgat province, Ankara, and Istanbul.

The suspects are former Police Academy students, and their arrest warrants were issued by the prosecutor's office in Yozgat.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people dead and 2,734 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.

*Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev from Ankara