Security forces arrested 55 suspects on Tuesday in operations across Turkey against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ). Operations, based on separate investigations conducted by prosecutors in the capital Ankara and the southern province of Mersin, are the latest blow to the group it was behind the July 15, 2016 putsch attempt.
In the capital Ankara, three investigations concluded with arrest warrants for 62 suspects. Among them, 54 were arrested while operations are underway to capture others. Attorney General’s Office in the city noted in a statement that 19 people have been arrested in one FETÖ investigation secret network of infiltrators in Air Force Command. Suspects include military officers of several ranks, including a lieutenant-colonel. Their links with the terrorist group were discovered because of their contacts with “civil imams”, the managers of FETÖ for infiltrators. Prosecutor office said suspects regularly contacted with managers through public public telephones, a method commonly employed by the terrorist secret group. In another Ankara-based investigation, 21 suspects were wanted for membership in the terrorist group. They were identified by their use of an encrypted messaging application, their correspondences on which were discovered by the investigators.
In another survey based in Ankara, 21 years old out of 27 wanted suspects were arrested. The suspects have been identified in investigation in military school exam fraud. They are accused of steal 2012 exam questions and answers for promotion of non-commissioned officers of the gendarmerie forces, a 2010 military high school entrance exam and a 2013 exam that allowed NCOs to be promoted to rank of military officers.
Prosecutors in Mersin sought arrest of 33 suspects including 19 active-duty soldiers in an investigation into military infiltrators of FETO. Operations have taken place in six provinces to capture the suspects. A of them, a non-commissioned officer, was detained in his home in Toroslar district of Mersina. Operations are underway to capture others.
