UPDATE - 29 FETO terror-linked suspects nabbed across Turkey

UPDATES WITH NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTRY'S STATEMENT; CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE; ADDS DETAILS

By Anadolu Agency Staff

ADANA / SAMSUN / ESKISEHIR / EDIRNE, Turkey (AA) – Turkish security forces on Wednesday arrested at least 29 people over their alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, according to security sources.

Prosecutors in the Mediterranean province of Adana had issued arrest warrants for eight suspects over the terror group’s infiltration of the state institutions, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The suspects were arrested from their residences after counter-terror teams found evidence they had been in contact with senior FETO members.

Meanwhile, six suspects, including two active-duty soldiers, were nabbed in the Black Sea provinces of Samsun and Karabuk after prosecutors issued their arrest warrants.

In the northwestern Eskisehir province, two fugitives already sentenced over membership in the terror group FETO were arrested by police.

After routine procedures at the police department, the convicts were transferred to prison.

Another 11 FETO terror suspects were nabbed in operations in the northwestern province of Edirne, the capital Ankara, the commercial capital Istanbul, the Aegean Izmir province, and the central province of Konya.

Separately, Turkey's National Defense Ministry said on Twitter that two other FETO terror suspects were nabbed on the Turkish-Greek border by border troops.

It said a total of four people, including the two FETO terror members, were nabbed while attempting to flee to Greece through illegal means.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people dead and 2,734 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.

* Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara