180 FETO terror suspects nabbed across Turkey

ANKARA

Turkey on Tuesday arrested 180 suspected members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, said security sources.

Fifty of the detainees are part of a group of 71 FETO members who infiltrated the Justice Ministry sought by warrants in a 15-city operation ordered by prosecutors in the capital Ankara, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Also, as part of a probe based in the Aegean province of Izmir against FETO infiltration of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), 101 of 157 suspects, including active-duty personnel, were captured by security authorities.

Additionally, 29 other suspects were arrested in Ankara as part of an operation investigating the terror group’s infiltration of the Turkish Land Forces Command.

Security authorities also issued arrest warrants for 467 other suspects believed to have illegally obtained 2009 police promotion exam questions.

Prosecutors accuse the terror group of stealing exam questions to help FETO members infiltrate state organizations.

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.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas