Turkish authorities on Tuesday issued arrest warrants to arrest 214 people over their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the terror group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, according to a security source.
Prosecutors in the western Izmir province are seeking the arrest of the suspects as part of an investigation into FETO’s infiltration of the Turkish Armed Forces.
An operation has been launched in 41 provinces and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to nab the suspects including on-duty and dismissed soldiers, said the security source who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
The suspects were found to have communicated with the group members via pay phones or fixed lines and some were said to be FETO member in confessors’ statements.
FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 which left 251 people killed and 2,734 injured.
Ankara 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.