UPDATE - Turkey: 24 FETO-linked terror suspects arrested

REVISED DECK; UPDATED WITH MORE ARRESTS IN PROVINCE OF BALIKESIR

By Sertac Bulur and Mirac Kaya

ANKARA / BALIKESIR, Turkey (AA) - At least 24 people were arrested in Turkey on Tuesday for their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, according to security sources.

In operations based in the capital Ankara, police in 14 provinces arrested 15 of the suspects, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Ankara prosecutors had issued warrants for 25 suspects – most of them senior FETO terror members, also known as “imams” – including one ex-military officer and four dismissed officers as part of FETO probes.

Operations are ongoing to find the remaining 10 suspects.

The suspects had been identified from the testimony of other suspects benefiting from a repentance law.

Separately, in Balikesir, in the Aegean region, nine more FETO suspects were arrested.

The suspects, including former and current members of the military and police, had been sought by Balikesir prosecutors.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated a defeated coup on July 15, 2016 which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Turkey also 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