Nearly 30 FETO terror suspects arrested across Turkey

By Ayse Yildiz

DENIZLI, Turkey

At least 27 suspects, including businessmen, were arrested Thursday for being linked to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind last year’s defeated coup in Turkey, according to a security official.

Police arrested 15 FETO suspects, including businessmen from three provinces, as part of an operation based in the southwestern Denizli province, for using FETO’s encrypted smartphone messaging app ByLock, said the official, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

According to Turkish authorities, ByLock was a means of communication among members of FETO, which orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 that left 250 people martyred and some 2,200 others injured.

In a separate operation in the Aegean province of Antalya, police also arrested 7 people for their alleged links to FETO.

In eastern Turkey, another four people were taken into custody in three provinces during an Igdir based-operation in an ongoing investigation into the same terrorist group.

The suspects were claimed to have provided financial support the group and helped the members escape abroad.

In the western Usak province, police detained two FETO suspects, both former cadets, as part of an investigation into FETO.

Another FETO suspect was also arrested in a separate raid in the northwestern Tekirdag province.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the July 15 defeated coup.

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.