UPDATE - Turkey: 15 arrested in FETO terror probe

UPDATES WITH ARRESTS; CHANGES HEADLINE, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Safak Yel and Savas Guler

IZMIR / KONYA, Turkey (AA) - Fifteen people were arrested on Tuesday for suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, judicial sources said.

The suspects in Turkey's central province of Konya were found to have communicated with "covert imams" of FETO via payphone.

Earlier on Monday, Turkish prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 128 FETO suspects, including 48 on-duty officers as part of a probe into the terror group's clandestine network in the Turkish Armed Forces, said the source who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak to media.

Also, security operations were carried out across 30 provinces.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Turkey 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 Busra Nur Bilgic