A string of operations early Tuesday netted 133 suspects associated with the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) across Turkey. Suspects included civil servants as well as former and serving members of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), which was at the heart of a coup attempt by FETÖ's infiltrators in the army on July 15, 2016.
The biggest operation was based in the western province of Izmir. The Chief Prosecutor's Office in Izmir ordered the arrests of 99 suspects in an investigation into a military network of FETÖ members. A total of 71 of the 99 wanted suspects were captured, while operations were underway to detain the others. The investigation was based on the presence of FETÖ, even after the foiled coup attempt, in the army, and investigators cooperated with the Ministry of National Defense, the local branch of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the land and naval forces and the Gendarmerie General Command of the army for the investigation. Investigators say they found evidence linking suspects to the terrorist group, though the extent or content of evidence was not clear yet. Suspects included 31 active-duty soldiers, three former officers and 65 former military cadets. The majority of suspects were serving or former members of the Land Forces Command.
In another operation based in Istanbul, security forces detained 12 FETÖ suspects in the city, as well as in the provinces of Erzurum and Bayburt. Suspects were so-called "secret imams" of FETÖ, a name given to handlers for the group's infiltrators in places like the army. They were accused of picking young students loyal to the terrorist group and helping them to get into military schools. The terrorist group was indicted on repeated instances over its fraudulent tactics to infiltrate the army with its members. Along with offering a place to prepare for military school exams and stay, in the form of their "study houses," the terrorist group also used to supply questions and answers to those exams in some cases, according to confessions of former members. Military schools themselves, which were heavily reformed following the 2016 coup attempt, were partially staffed by officers linked to FETÖ, which favored fellow infiltrators and resorted to hazing and other tactics to expel other cadets. Security forces found "documents and digital evidence" linking suspects to FETÖ in search of locations where the suspects were captured, security sources told media outlets. Suspects are accused of regularly contacting FETÖ infiltrators through public pay phones and an investigation of phone contacts of infiltrators detained in earlier operations helped their discovery.
Pay phones are a common method of communication for secretive FETÖ but they have also proven to be their undoing since the coup attempt was quashed. Focusing their probe on pay phones in busy places, investigators managed to identify a large number of "imams" who phoned the infiltrators to arrange secret meetings. Some suspects were serving as handlers while others simply provided a house for secret meetings. Suspects included several civil servants.
Another operation, also based in Istanbul, netted 12 out of 14 wanted suspects. Suspects were part of a FETÖ network handling "marriage" matters within the terrorist group. Operations were held in Istanbul, Aksaray, the capital Ankara, Antalya and Eskişehir to capture the suspects. They were identified through their correspondence over Bylock, an encrypted messaging app developed and exclusively used by the members of the terrorist group. Two other suspects were abroad, security sources said. Dominating every aspect of the lives of its members, FETÖ also had "izdivaç" (marriage) networks where handlers of infiltrators would "pair" members with each other or help them "select" their future husband or wife.
In the capital Ankara, the Chief Prosecutor's Office ordered the arrest of 34 suspects in an investigation into FETÖ infiltrators in the public sector. Twenty-nine among them were still working while others were earlier dismissed from their jobs on suspicion of links to FETÖ. Thirty suspects were captured so far in operations in Ankara and 18 other provinces. Suspects were identified through their contact with their handlers via pay phones, as well as information provided by former members of the terrorist group who collaborated with authorities after their capture.
In the western province of Balıkesir, the governorate announced that eight suspects linked to FETÖ were arrested as part of an investigation into a secret FETÖ network and all were civil servants, working in Balıkesir, Ankara, Bursa, Denizli and Kocaeli.
