12 July 2018•Update: 13 July 2018
By Sarp Ozer
ANKARA
Two more alleged senior Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) members were brought back to Turkey from abroad as part of operations against the terror group, security sources said on Thursday.
Isa Ozdemir, who was apprehended in Azerbaijan, and Salih Zeki Yigit, in Ukraine, have been brought to Istanbul by private plane on Thursday afternoon following operations conducted by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
Ozdemir and Yigit are suspected of being members of an armed terror organization.
According to the sources, Ozdemir, who studied at Baku State University, was reportedly responsible for the terror group's finances.
And, Yigit was an alleged imam of the terror group in the southern Mersin province. He was allegedly involved in money transfers. He fled abroad after the defeated July 15 coup attempt in 2016.
Turkish intelligence officers last March had brought six alleged senior FETO members back to Turkey following operations against the terror group’s branch in the Balkans, according to security sources.
In cooperation with Kosovar intelligence, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) arrested the six men, who were said to be in charge of getting FETO members out of Turkey to go to Europe and the U.S.
According to the Turkish government, FETO and its U.S.-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.
Turkey has brought back 80 FETO members from abroad so far, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech in April.
