High-ranking FETÖ member that served as Malaysia 'country imam' nabbed in raid

A suspected so-called "country imam" of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) was arrested in central Turkey, Turkish security sources said Saturday.

The suspect, identified by Ahmet K., was a so-called "imam" of FETÖ members in Malaysia from 2011 to 2013. Turkish police detained the suspect and his wife, identified as Betül K., in Turkey's central Konya province.

The couple was brought to the provincial counter-terrorism department for interrogation.

"Country imams" are the highest-ranking members of FETÖ in a single country or region. Accordingly, Ahmet K. was in charge of FETÖ operations in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, India and Thailand for two years.

FETÖ and its U.S.-based ringleader Fetullah Gülen orchestrated the 2016 defeated coup which left 251 people dead and nearly 2,200 injured. Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkey's military, police and judiciary.

FETÖ maintains a vast network of schools and other educational facilities throughout the world, with the U.S. being the terrorist group's primary focus. These facilities, often presented as Turkish or international schools, primarily recruit FETÖ members and sympathizers as teachers and administrators. FETÖ schools are often accused of money laundering and financing the shadowy group's activities through the schools' profits and deals with FETÖ-affiliated businesses and vendors.

Ankara's relentless efforts in taking over Turkish-branded institutions from FETÖ since 2014 has found some success, but the terrorists' networks in Europe and the U.S. remain untouched.