Police detain 1,009 suspects over FETÖ links

Police have detained 1,009 suspects over links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) in Ankara-based operations conducted in 81 provinces, reports said Wednesday.

According to reports, the simultaneous operations targeted FETÖ's structure in the police force and most of the detainees are police officers.

Security forces noted that a total of 8,500 police participated in the operation and that there are around 1,000 detention warrants for suspects.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said that 1,009 suspects, -which he said were so-called imams- were detained in 72 provinces.
The cult uses the code name "imam," an Islamic title used to refer to religious leaders or clerics, as a title for terror cult members with major responsibilities like dealing with specific organizations and institutions in Turkey and abroad.

The July 15 coup attempt was masterminded by FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen, who has been living in self-imposed exile, on a 400-acre property in the foothills of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania since 1999.

Turkey has regarded FETÖ as a security threat since December 2013, when the group emerged as the perpetrator of two coup attempts against the democratically elected government.

Prosecutors claim that FETÖ has waged a lengthy campaign to topple the government through its infiltrators in law enforcement, the judiciary, bureaucracy and the military.