January 04, 2018•Update: January 04, 2018
ANKARA/KONYA, Turkey
Arrest warrants for more than 130 Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) suspects, including for former and active military personnel were issued in central Turkey on Thursday, according to a judicial source.
A public prosecutor in central Konya province issued arrest warrants for 70 FETO suspects, including 58 former and active soldiers, the source said.
The source said 40 suspects so far had been arrested during simultaneous operations; a ranking on-duty soldier was arrested in of Eskisehir while another soldier was arrested in southwestern Mugla province.
Police looking out for suspects across 27 provinces as part of its nationwide operations, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking with the media, said.
Twelve of the suspects were soldiers who had been dismissed from the military.
Separately, Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issued arrest warrants for 67 FETO suspects in 12 provinces.
Among the suspects are seven union administrators of former FETO-affiliated Aksiyon Labor Confederation and 15 users of ByLock -- an app used by FETO members to communicate during and after the defeated July 15, coup.
Of them, 33 were arrested, a police source, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to media, said.
An operation remains ongoing to nab the rest of the suspects, the same source added.
Fourteen soldiers were also arrested in a simultaneous operation in nine different provinces as part of a probe launched by northeastern Bayburt Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against the terrorist organization.
Separately, 14 FETO suspects, including on-duty soldiers and police were arrested in eastern Van province.
In northwestern Kocaeli province, 17 FETO suspects, including a number of former soldiers were arrested. A prosecutor's office in Kocaeli also issued an arrest warrant for 26 soldiers, including five dismissed, a retired and 20 on-duty soldiers.
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup on 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.
Reporting by Savas Guler, Serdar Acil by Merve Aydogan
