Turkey arrests 57 for suspected FETO links

By Baris Kilic, Ismet Karakas and Cemil Murat Budak

ANKARA (AA) - A total of 57 people have been arrested Friday for their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 deadly coup attempt.

Prosecutors in Turkish capital Ankara issued arrest warrants for 34 former Air Forces Command staff, who were dismissed after the defeated coup, as part of a probe to investigate the FETO members’ communication through payphone, according to a statement by the top prosecutor’s office.

Twenty-one of them were arrested in operations conducted in 17 provinces.

Separately, police in Ankara arrested 36 suspects, who worked at FETO-affiliated schools which were shut down following the defeated coup.

The arrests came after the Ankara prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 52 suspects as part of a probe into FETO's civilian wing.

Both operations are ongoing to nab other 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 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 Sena Guler