UPDATE - 35 FETO-linked terror suspects arrested across Turkey

UPDATES WITH ARRESTS IN KOCAELI PROVINCE; CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE, DECK

By Ibrahim Aktas and Cankut Dasdan

KOCAELI/ANKARA (AA) - At least 35 people with suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, were arrested in countrywide raids, authorities said on Tuesday.

Prosecutors in the capital Ankara issued arrest warrants for 47 suspects as part of a probe into the terror group’s infiltration of the military.

A statement by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara said the suspects were found to be in contact with FETO members via payphone.

Thirty of the suspects were arrested in Ankara-based operations conducted simultaneously in 17 cities across Turkey, while the hunt continued for the remaining suspects.

Also, prosecutors in northwestern Kocaeli province issued arrest warrants for seven suspects as part of a probe into the terror group’s structure within the military.

Five of the suspects were arrested in the Kocaeli-based operation conducted in the southeastern Sanliurfa province. The arrested included one serving lieutenant, one active duty sergeant, one dismissed gendarmerie officer and two former military school students.

The search is underway to arrest the remaining suspects.

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