Another FETO suspect arrested over Russian envoy murder

A member of FETO -- the terrorist group behind the July 2016 defeated coup in Turkey -- was arrested on Monday in connection with the assassination that December of Russia's ambassador to Turkey.

Security units in the capital Ankara arrested an individual identified as A.S., the wife of S.S., formerly employed by the Turkish Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA), also identified as a senior Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) member and the superior of Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, the Russian envoy's late assassin.

S.S. was arrested in April, while his wife was also identified as a suspect due to using the terror group's encrypted messaging app ByLock and having worked at FETO-linked companies.

Andrey Karlov was assassinated at an Ankara art gallery on Dec. 19, 2016 by Altıntaş, an off-duty police officer linked to the FETO terrorist group who was shot dead by police during a standoff.

The husband S.S. was also found to be a user of ByLock, an encrypted cellphone app used by coup-plotters.

The suspect is also believed to be responsible for deleting Altıntaş's e-mails and for conveying the terror group's instructions to him and organizing the assassination.

In January, another former ICTA civil servant was arrested and remanded in custody on charges of association in plotting manslaughter, according to security sources.

Late last year, six people were arrested over the assassination, including three police officers, Guru Media Broadcast Group Chairman Hayreddin Aydınbaş, and Mustafa Timur Özkan, who organized the art exhibit.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.