UPDATE - 23 FETO suspects arrested across Turkey

UPDATES WITH MORE ARRESTS, CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE, MINOR EDITS

By Sertac Bulur and Fecri Barlik

ANKARA/SIIRT (A) - The Turkish police on Tuesday arrested a total of 23 people over their alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.

Thirteen suspects, including two dismissed army majors and three teachers, were arrested in the capital Ankara after counter-terrorism teams learnt the FETO was carrying out its restructuring activities through the terror group’s fugitive members hiding in the cell houses of the group, a police source said.

The police also seized foreign currencies and some gold coins during the raids, said the source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Separately, 10 suspects were arrested in Siirt-based operations across eight provinces, local authorities said.

The suspects were accused of using ByLock, the terror group's encrypted smartphone messaging app, the Governor’s Office of the southeastern Siirt province said in a statement.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in which 251 people were 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.