Turkish police arrest 30 FETO-linked suspects

By Sertac Bulur

ANKARA (AA) - At least 30 people were arrested early Friday over their suspected links to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the July 2016 defeated coup.

The arrests came after the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara issued arrest warrants for 43 suspects as part of probe into group's "absence houses", a label given to hideouts of secret FETO members, across the province, according to security sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

30 of them were arrested during simultaneous raids conducted across 30 different addresses across the capital.

The source added that the operation remained ongoing to nab the rest of the suspects.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara 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.