Ankara prosecutors issue arrest warrants for 129 Gülen-linked former police officers
ANKARA
Arrest warrants have been issued for a total of 129 former police officers linked to the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Jan. 25, citing a judicial source.
The suspects served for the Turkish police forces but were sacked from duty with a statutory decree as part of an investigation into FETÖ, the agency reported, citing the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
After prosecutors in the capital Ankara issued the arrest warrants, police launched operations in 21 provinces to apprehend the suspects, the report read. Until now, 60 of the 129 FETÖ-linked suspects have already been arrested.
The suspects include a first-class chief commissioner, nine fourth-class police constables, six police supervisors, four chief inspectors, 11 police commissioners, 28 deputy police commissioners, six chief police officers, and 64 police officers.
All of them were sacked from their jobs with a statutory decree for using ByLock, an encrypted smartphone messaging application used almost exclusively by Gülen affiliates to communicate, and maintaining ties to the group.
FETÖ, under the leadership of the U.S.-based Fethullah Gülen, is widely believed to have been behind the July 15, 2016 coup attempt that left 250 people dead and nearly 2,200 wounded.
Since the coup attempt, more than 50,000 people, including civil servants and security personnel, have been jailed pending trial and some 150,000 were suspended or dismissed from their jobs.
The Turkish government says the dismissals and arrests are necessary to fight against security threats Turkey has been experiencing since the attempted takeover.
