Police detains 75 over suspected FETÖ links
ISTANBUL/ANKARA/ÇANAKKALE/KONYA-Anadolu Agency
Turkish police on Nov. 26 detained 52 suspects for their alleged links to the FETÖ, the group behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt, security sources said.
The detentions came after prosecutors in Istanbul issued warrants for 54 suspects.
The police conducted simultaneous raids across the country, and detained 28 suspects on charges of using the terror group's encrypted smartphone messaging app, ByLock.
Separately, prosecutors in coastal northwestern Çanakkale province issued detention warrants for 21 active-duty soldiers including a lieutenant colonel as part of an investigation into the terror group's crypto structure in the Turkish Armed Forces.
Also prosecutors in central Konya province issued detention warrants for 50 FETÖ-linked terror suspects who were accused of being "covert imams" -- senior FETÖ members -- leading terror group members who infiltrated into the armed forces.
In the following hours, 23 of them were detained in the operation launched in 26 provinces.
Another detention warrant was issued by prosecutors in Ankara for 37 suspects, including 32 active-duty soldiers and a "covert imam", and 24 suspects were detained.
In total, 75 suspects out of 162 have been detained so far.
A hunt for the remaining suspects is underway.
FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup attempt on July 15, 2016, which left 251 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.
Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
