Over 130 suspects sought over suspected Gülen links

ANKARA/ KONYA – Anadolu Agency

Detention warrants were issued on Jan. 4 for more than 130 people including former and active military personnel suspected of having links to the Gülen network, believed to have been behind the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, according to a judiciary source.

A public prosecutor in the Central Anatolian province of Konya issued detention warrants for 70 suspects, including 58 former and active soldiers, the source said.

The source said 40 suspects have so far been detained during simultaneous operations across Turkey, including one on-duty soldier in the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir and another soldier in the southwestern province of Muğla.

Police are looking for suspects across 27 provinces as part of their nationwide operations, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

Twelve of the suspects were soldiers who had been dismissed from the military.

Separately, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued detention warrants for 67 Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) suspects in 12 provinces.

Among the suspects are seven union administrators of the Gülen-affiliated Aksiyon Labor Confederation and 15 users of ByLock, an encrypted smartphone app used by FETÖ members to communicate during and after the July 15, 2016, coup attempt.

Of them, 33 were detained, a police source said.

An operation to apprehend the rest of the suspects is ongoing, the same source added.

Fourteen soldiers were also detained in simultaneous operations in nine different provinces as part of a probe launched by the Bayburt Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office against FETÖ.

Separately, 14 FETÖ suspects, including on-duty soldiers and police, were detained in the eastern province of Van.

In the northwestern province of Kocaeli, 17 suspects, including a number of former soldiers were detained. A prosecutor’s office in Kocaeli also issued detention warrants for 26 soldiers, including five dismissed, one retired and 20 on-duty soldiers.
U.S.-based Fethullah Gülen is the top suspect in cases into the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.