ISTANBUL

Turkish police arrested on Tuesday at least 14 people for their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, security sources said.

Istanbul prosecutors issued warrants for 28 people after they were found to be using ByLock, the terror group’s encrypted smartphone messaging app, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Police arrested half of the suspects in simultaneous operations in Istanbul, the capital Ankara, the Mediterranean Isparta province and the northwestern Bolu province. A search for the remaining suspects is under way.

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.

Turkey 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 Havva Kara Aydin