UPDATE - Turkish police arrest 10 over FETO terror links

UPDATES WITH MORE ARREST; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE

By Savas Guler and Adsiz Gunebakan

KONYA/GAZIANTEP, Turkey (AA) - Police in Turkey arrested 10 people over their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt, security sources said on Tuesday.

The arrests came after prosecutors in central Konya and southeastern Gaziantep provinces issued warrants for 16 suspects -- including seven on-duty soldiers, one cadet and a suspected doctor -- for communicating with senior FETO members, including those in the army, via payphone.

In a Konya-based operation in five provinces, anti-terrorism police teams arrested four suspects.

Meanwhile, six more FETO suspects were arrested in the operations launched in Gaziantep and Osmaniye provinces.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup on July 15, 2016, which left 251 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.