UPDATE - Turkey: Arrest warrants out for 56 FETO terror suspects

UPDATES WITH MORE ARRESTS, CONVICTIONS

By Halil Demir, Muhammed Enes Can and Eyup Elevulu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Arrest warrants have been issued in Istanbul for 56 suspects over their alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind last year’s defeated coup, according to a police source.

As a result, police teams have conducted simultaneous operations in 19 provinces including the capital Ankara, Izmir, Kayseri and eastern Adiyaman provinces, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said on Friday.

In a separate operation spanning 23 provinces, 24 ranking soldiers were arrested over FETO charges.

Meanwhile, an Istanbul court on Friday remanded 33 out of the 36 suspects in custody in a case on FETO’s infiltration into Turkish Armed Forces.

In northern Ordu province, a court on Friday sent 43 people to jail -- with sentences ranging from four years and two months to 10 years and six months -- over FETO links.

In addition, a High Criminal Court in the northern province of Samsun sentenced 21 people to up to seven years and five months in prison.

The convicts include former police officers who were charged with “being a member to an armed terror group, attempting to or preventing the Turkish parliament from performing its duties, attempting to eliminate the constitutional order.”

The court also postponed the hearing of 48 suspects in which 45 are remanded in custody to a later date.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara 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.