Turkey: 18 FETO terror suspects arrested

BURSA/KUTAHYA/BALIKESIR/DENIZLI, Turkey

Turkish security forces arrested 18 terror suspects for their alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, a security source said on Monday.

Six suspects, including employees of different organizations linked to the terror group as well as teachers and government employees who were dismissed from service, were arrested in operations carried out in the northwestern Bursa province, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

During the operations, the police also seized digital materials.

Separately, two suspects were arrested in simultaneous operations in the western Kutahya province and its Simav town, the source said.

Eight more suspects were nabbed in a Balikesir-based operation conducted simultaneously in four provinces across the country.

The arrests came after prosecutors in the northwestern Balikesir province issued warrants for 10 suspects for their links to the terrorist organization.

A hunt for the remaining two fugitive suspects is underway.

In a separate operation conducted in the western Denizli province, two terrorist fugitives, each handed down a definite prison sentence of six years and three months, were arrested by anti-terror forces.

The 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 infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

Since the coup attempt, tens of thousands of FETO suspects have been arrested, including many in the armed forces, police, judicial system, and education sector.

* Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara