UPDATE - 37 Turkish military staff arrested in FETO probe

UPDATES NUMBER OF ARRESTS FROM 13 TO 37

By Omer Sut

IZMIR, Turkey (AA) – Thirty-seven military personnel were arrested across Turkey Thursday in an ongoing probe into the presence of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) in the Turkish Armed Forces, a police source said.

The Izmir Public Prosecutor's Office had issued the arrest warrants for 62 military personnel, including civilians and army officers on charges of "espionage" and "being members of a terrorist organization".

The suspects were arrested across 13 provinces, including Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa, and Mardin, a police source, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.

Also on Thursday, Defense Minister Fikri Isik said over 20,000 people had been dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces so far since the July 15 coup bid.

Among those dismissed are 3,665 army personnel and 16,423 military students, Isik added.

Led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, FETO is accused of orchestrating Turkey’s July 15 coup plot as well as being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

The July 15 defeated coup left 248 martyred, and around 2,200 others wounded.

Since then, operations have been going on in the military, police and judiciary, as well as in the state institutions across the country to arrest suspects with alleged links to FETO.