Turkey issues arrest warrants for 27 FETO suspects

By Serdar Acil and Ismet Karakas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish authorities issued arrest warrants for 27 people over their alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, according to a security source on Friday.

Prosecutors in the capital Ankara issued arrest warrants for the suspects across 10 provinces, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The suspects are accused of allegedly leaking the 2005 exam questions of police department to the FETO-linked candidates, it added.

A total of 18 suspects were arrested and a search for the remaining suspects continue, it added.

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