Prosecutors in Ankara issued arrest warrants for 51 suspects – including civilians and former soldiers – in separate investigations into the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) Tuesday.
FETÖ faces more scrutiny after it tried to seize power with a coup attempt on July 15, 2016, through its infiltrators in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in a plot masterminded by its civilian members.
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara ordered the arrests in five probes into the terrorist group’s “mahrem” (secret) network, “civilian” structure and those involved in fraud in exams for admission to military school and for promotion of doctors.
The office said in a statement that the probe into the “mahrem” network focused on 19 suspects who were former and current members of the public sector. They were identified through their phone contacts with fellow FETÖ members and eyewitness statements. Another investigation focused on fraud in military high school admission exams in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 and authorities sought the arrest of seven suspects, including former military cadets.
The suspects are accused of obtaining questions and answers to the exam and distributing them to fellow FETÖ members before the exams. In another investigation, authorities sought the arrest of two academics linked to the terrorist group.
Five suspects are wanted for stealing and distributing questions and answers to the Medical Specialty Exam (TUS) which allows physicians to get promoted.
The terrorist group is known for resorting to fraud in exams as a steppingstone into the public sector it widely infiltrated in the past decades.
Prosecutors also ordered the arrest of six suspects linked to the terrorist group after their names were found in a list of Bylock users. Bylock is an encrypted messaging app developed and exclusively used by members of terrorist groups.
Meanwhile, in Ankara, prosecutors sought the arrest of 12 suspects, including five former soldiers, over FETÖ’s infiltration into the Land Forces Command of the Turkish army. Suspects included noncommissioned officers and teachers who are accused of serving as their “handlers” for the terrorist group. Operations to capture the suspects are underway in several provinces.
