Turkish police arrest over 110 FETO-linked suspects

By Savas Guler

KONYA, Turkey (AA) - At least 111 people were arrested on Thursday across Turkey over their suspected links to Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the July 2016 defeated coup, according to security sources.

In central Konya-based province, the organized crime department of police arrested 40 FETO suspects, including on-duty soldiers, as part of an investigation carried out by the province’s chief public prosecutor’s office.

Additionally, 14 more suspects, including on-duty soldiers, were arrested in eight different provinces, as part of a separate probe carried out by the same prosecutor’s office.

In southern Hatay province, police held 12 FETO suspects in simultaneous operations that targeted "absence houses", a label given to hideouts of secret FETO members, across the province.

Some of the suspects are learned to have used an encrypted smartphone messaging app ByLock.

Another 12 suspects -- including doctors, teachers, and students -- were arrested in eastern Elazig-based operation, which was carried out across five provinces.

In Mediterranean Antalya and northwestern Kocaeli provinces, police arrested nine FETO-linked suspects in each province.

In northern Tokat province, seven suspects were arrested as part of an investigation into terror organization’s “judges and prosecutors’ house”.

In Trabzon, a Black Sea province, four FETO suspects were arrested in simultaneous raid across the province for using ByLock application.

In central Nigde province, police held two suspects for allegedly using ByLock, while two others were arrested in central Eskisehir province on suspicion of being terror group members.

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.