Prosecutors in the capital Ankara and the western province of Izmir ordered the arrests of dozens of suspects in operations against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) on Tuesday. A total of 105 suspects have been arrested so far by security forces in nearly 50 cities. The detainees are among the 127 wanted by the authorities in separate investigations focused on the terrorist groupinfiltration of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).
In the capital Ankara, the bureau of the Attorney General ordered the arrests of 26 suspects charged of run the terrorist group’s”secret services” in command of land forces. “Services” refers to the generalization network of its terrorist infiltrators. Eighteen of all 26 were arrested in operations in 10 provinces as the search continues for others. The suspects were identified through their contacts with other FETÖ members via public payphones, a method commonly used by group who seeks to avoid detection.
A larger operation was underway in Izmir, a province home several military bases and a place where FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen recruited followers in his early years as a preacher. Arrest warrants have been issued for 101 suspects, including 28 soldiersand 87 of them were arrested in nationwide operations. The suspects were identified through cooperation between the bureau of the Attorney General, the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the Department of Defense and the military. Sixteen suspects were still serving in the army while others were retired or expelled military earlier on suspicion of links to FETÖ. Some were former military cadets. The suspects belonged to different branches of the army, including the command of the land forces, the command of the air forces and the general command of the gendarmerie.
the bureau of the attorney general in Province announced that the surveys were the latest in a string of operations carried out out since November 2019 based on a database set up by the counter-terrorism police to detect suspected members of FETÖ who have contacted with public payphones. A total of 24 operations based on the information of the database led to the arrests of 1,585 people since November 2019. Among them, 531 suspects collaborated with authorities, citing a remorse law that provides for lenient sentences in to exchange for valuable information which helps to discover secret FETÖ members. All have been released in to exchange for useful information.
Thousands of people were detained or arrested following the July 15, 2016 coup attempt by the undercover terrorist group in the army and aided by civilian members of FETO. The putsch bid was suppressed thanks to a strong, unprecedented public resistance against his plotters and was followed by massive investigations into the terrorist group which still works today.
