In several simultaneous operations across Turkey, security forces on Tuesday nabbed 92 suspects associated with Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ). More suspects are wanted in operations based in the capital Ankara and western province of Izmir.
In Izmir, Chief Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for 60 suspects, and of these, 44 suspects have been detained so far in the city and across 25 other provinces. Suspects were former and serving soldiers and former cadets who were expelled from military schools on suspicion of ties with the terrorist group.
The Prosecutor’s Office said arrests were culmination of an investigation into terrorist group’s activities in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). Prosecutors cooperated with the Defense Ministry, local branch of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), Land Forces, Naval Forces, Air Forces and Gendarme commands of the army to detect the suspects. Majority of wanted and arrested suspects were former and serving members of Naval Forces. Military cadets were expelled from their schools in the aftermath of July 15, 2016 coup attempt perpetrated by FETÖ’s military infiltrators.
In Ankara, two investigations targeted a similar network of FETÖ infiltrators. In one investigation, Chief Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants for 53 suspects and 48 among them were detained so far. Suspects were former and current employees of public sector, prosecutors said in a statement though it was not disclosed which public agencies they worked at. Their ties to FETÖ were discovered when they contacted known "imams" (handlers of FETÖ for its infiltrators) through phone calls and had testimonies of former members against them. Some were in possession of Bylock, an encrypted messaging app developed and exclusively used by the terrorist group. Thirty-one suspects were already expelled from their jobs for links to the group while 21 others were still on duty.
Another investigation based in Ankara was against terrorist group’s infiltration into Land Forces branch of the army. Arrest warrants were issued for 21 suspects and a manhunt was underway in the capital and five other provinces to capture them. One suspect was "secret imam" for FETÖ, prosecutors said, while others were nine military officers, including two active-duty officers and eleven former cadets. Suspects were detected through their phone contacts.
FETÖ has been the focus of law enforcement operations almost on a daily basis since the 2016 coup attempt. More than 10,000 former and serving members of TSK face criminal probes in nationwide investigations and more were detained or arrested in the immediate aftermath of the putsch bid.
Senior figures of FETÖ fled the country before and after the attempt. Authorities believe that a large number of members, particularly infiltrators in the army, who managed to disguise their ties to FETÖ, are still working to revive the terrorist group.
According to an investigation made public in December 2020 and conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the terrorist group began infiltrating the TSK more than four decades ago. Based on a report prepared by the gendarmerie, 22 of 239 students who graduated from military schools between the 1970s and 1990s were charged with involvement in the 2016 coup attempt, while 58 others were investigated for being a member of FETÖ following the failed putschist bid.
The group had already been designated as a national security threat after its two similar coup attempts disguised as "graft probes."