UPDATE - Turkey: 82 FETO terror suspects were arrested

UPDATES WITH MORE ARREST WARRANTS, ARRESTS IN EDIRNE-BASED OPERATION; REVISES HEADLINE, LEDE

By Anadolu Agency Staff

ANKARA, EDIRNE, Turkey ( AA) - Turkish authorities arrested 82 people on Friday over their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.

Earlier, prosecutors in the Turkish capital Ankara issued arrest warrants for 89 people, including 29 active-duty public servants, over their alleged links to the terror group.

According to a statement by prosecutors, the warrants were issued as part of efforts to uncover FETO’s infiltration of the Turkish Gendarmerie General Command.

The efforts to arrest the suspects are being jointly executed by the Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) and Turkish police counter-terrorism and cybercrime units, the statement noted.

In the ongoing operations in 37 of Turkey’s 81 provinces, at least 60 of the 89 suspects, including an instructor at Konya Technical University, were arrested. Efforts are continuing to arrest other suspects.

In two other operations conducted in the capital Ankara, three suspects, including a retired air force colonel and four senior FETO members, were also arrested for their role in infiltration of the Turkish Air Force and police.

At least 22 more FETO-linked terror suspects were also arrested in a northwestern Edirne-based operation that spread to many other provinces, according to the provincial Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

This came after the office issued arrest warrants for 24 terror suspects, including lawyers, doctors, academicians and public servants, as part of probe into FETO’s infiltration of judicial institutions, bar associations and Military Medical Academy.

FETO and its US-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 Ahmet Gencturk