Fifty-six soldiers from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) were arrested over ties to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office said Friday.
In an operation against FETÖ in 36 provinces centered in Istanbul, 56 of the 63 active-duty soldiers for whom detention orders were issued were captured.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office reported that of the suspects who were detained, four were colonels, eight were lieutenant colonels, 12 were majors, 15 were captains and 24 were noncommissioned officers/sergeants. All 63 people were active-duty military personnel.
The statement said that FETÖ still constitutes the biggest threat as a terrorist organization that “endangers the constitutional order and survival of the state.”
It was emphasized that the most effective investigation method in exposing FETÖ members infiltrated in the TSK is "determining the contact in accordance with the organizational communication style, from the prepaid lines established in places such as kiosks, markets, bill payment centers, etc. used by civilian individuals responsible for the military members of the organization for organizational contact with the military individuals, and from the payphone lines established in public places."
The operation was conducted simultaneously in Istanbul and 35 other provinces at 6 a.m.
The terrorist group orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in Türkiye, in which 252 people were killed and 2,734 were wounded. Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
Türkiye has targeted its active members and sleeper cells nonstop, and its influence has been much reduced since 2016. However, the group maintains a vast network, including infiltrators suspected of still operating within Turkish institutions.
FETÖ backers in army ranks and civil institutions have disguised their loyalty, as operations and investigations have indicated since the 2016 coup attempt. FETÖ is also implicated in a string of cases related to its alleged plots to imprison its critics, money laundering, fraud and forgery.
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.
Those apprehended were mostly low-ranking members of the group, as high-ranking members managed to flee the country before and immediately after the coup attempt.
Turkish security sources also say the group is in turmoil after the death of its leader, Fetullah Gülen, in October last year.
