Police capture 57 FETÖ suspects in latest blow to terrorist group

TURKISH authorities yesterday caught a total of 57 suspects in Istanbul and 11 other cities with alleged ties to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which was behind a July 2016 coup. Istanbul police detained 38 suspects in an ongoing investigation on FETÖ’s so-called “student formation” that oversaw the housing of university students linked to FETÖ.

A total of 40 suspects, some already Istanbul residents or hailing from other cities, are charged by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for renting homes through citizens not connected to the terrorist group for FETÖ-linked students.

Prosecutors found that these homes were paid for and maintained by FETÖ handlers living abroad who supervised its residents’ activities.

Through members living in these homes, said FETÖ handlers organized “sohbet” events for university students, as well as high schoolers and middle schoolers.

Sohbet, meaning conversation in Turkish, is a term used to describe meetings of the terrorist group where one high-ranking member speaks on religious matters and the planning of secret activities. They mostly target students and youths also to preach FETÖ ringleader Fetullah Gülen’s so-called “teachings.”

Prosecutors uncovered that these sohbet sessions were held at the homes of figures who had faced legal action for their links to FETÖ. Their aim was to “increase the devotion” of the children in FETÖ-linked families to the terrorist group as well as to the handlers who took care of them.

Authorities found through technical and physical surveillance that children of young ages were handed over to these FETÖ homes or handlers, a common technique FETÖ has employed since its inception.

Authorities continue searching for the other two suspects, who are still at large.

Police detained in 11 other cities 19 more suspects charged by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in the western port city of Izmir for their alleged roles in FETÖ’s so-called “secret formation” in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).

The suspects include six soldiers, two of whom are on active duty, 16 military school students who cut off ties to FETÖ after the coup attempt, and a police officer.

FETÖ still has backers in army ranks and civil institutions, but they managed to disguise their loyalty, as operations and investigations since the coup attempt have indicated. FETÖ is also implicated in a string of cases related to its alleged plots to imprison its critics, money laundering, fraud and forgery.

The group faced increased scrutiny following the coup attempt that killed 251 people and injured nearly 2,200 others. Tens of thousands of people were detained, arrested or dismissed from public sector jobs following the effort under a state of emergency.

Hundreds of investigations launched after the attempt sped up the collapse of the group’s far-reaching network in the country. FETÖ was already under the spotlight following two separate attempts to overthrow the government in 2013 through its infiltrators.

The terrorist group faces operations almost daily as investigators still try to unravel their massive network of infiltrators everywhere. In 2024 alone, police apprehended hundreds of FETÖ suspects across the country, including fugitives on western borders trying to flee to Europe.