ANKARA

Turkish gendarmerie on Saturday arrested a senior operative of FETO, the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, in the capital Ankara.

Identified by the initials A.Y., the former teacher was wanted with an arrest warrant for four years over “establishing and membership to an armed terrorist organization”, according to statement by security forces.

A.Y. was dismissed from his profession as a teacher with a decree law in 2016.

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.

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.

* Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara