Turkish court remands in custody 2 FETO suspects

By Osman Uras

MUGLA, Turkey (AA) - A court in southwestern Mugla province on Tuesday remanded in custody two suspects linked to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), according to a judicial source.

The suspects were arrested last week while trying to cross Aegean on a boat into the nearby Greek islands, the source, who refused to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.

Seventeen people on the boat were held by Turkish security sources last Friday -- off the coast of the Bodrum district of the southwestern Mugla province.

According to the source, five of the 17 suspects were sent to the court in Bodrum on Tuesday.

The court released three of them under judicial control while remanded the remaining two, who were accused of using ByLock, an encrypted messaging app used by FETO members during and after last July’s defeated coup.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 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.