Detention warrants issued for 48 FETÖ-linked former policemen

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on June 29 issued detention warrants for 48 people over their suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), by the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. 

Suspects include four former police commissioners and 44 ex-police officers.

A written statement from the prosecutor’s office said arrest warrants were issued for former police personnel in the provinces of Ankara, Kayseri, Konya, Hatay, Amasya, Malatya, and Çorum.

Security units have already arrested 33 suspects.

Earlier this week in a major crackdown on FETÖ, detention warrants were issued on June 27 for 99 people over their link to the U.S-based cleric.

Suspects accused of being members of FETÖ include an air commodore and 30 former pilots from the Turkish Air Force Command.

The Gülen network is widely believed to have orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, including the military, police, and judiciary.