Police arrest over 170 FETO suspects across Turkey
FETO suspects were arrested
Police arrested 174 FETO suspects during early morning operations across Turkey on Friday.
Out of the total, 12 suspects, including eight active and former soldiers were arrested during police operations in 15 Turkish provinces, Qazet.az reports.
According to Van Police Department, simultaneous operations were carried out in Van, Isparta, Bitlis, Ankara, Manisa, Izmir, Antalya, Tokat, Balikesir, Bingol, Konya, Kocaeli, Kastamonu, Hakkari and Sirnak provinces.
Separately, police arrested 38 FETO suspects in the capital, according to Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Ankara. The suspects were affiliated to a labor confederation closed under a decree-law for its FETO links.
Also, three suspects were arrested in Ankara-based simultaneous operations across seven provinces.
The arrests, 30 in the capital and 11 in other provinces, came after arrest warrants were issued by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara.
Of them, eight suspects were accused of using ByLock, an encrypted mobile phone application used by FETO members to communicate during and after the defeated 2016 coup, and providing financial support to FETO-affiliated Bank Asya after the group's judicial coup attempt on Dec. 17-25, 2013.
Also, Ankara police arrested 24 other FETO suspects as part of their anti-terror operation against FETO's setup within the Turkish police.
Ten others were arrested in Mediterranean provinces of Adana and Mersin, and northwestern provinces of Istanbul and Balikesir.
Police also arrested 25 suspects who were employees of a FETO-linked publishing company, Isik Publishing.
The Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (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.