By Sibel Ugurlu
ANKARA (AA) – At least 12 suspects, including former teachers, were arrested in Turkey's Black Sea region on Wednesday over suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind last year’s defeated coup, according to a security source.
In the western Black Sea province of Zonguldak, six suspects were arrested on charges of being members of an armed terrorist group, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
Six other suspects, including four former teachers, were also arrested in the central and eastern Black Sea provinces of Samsun and Trabzon .
The suspects were accused of using FETO’s encrypted smartphone messaging application, ByLock.
The app is believed to have been cracked by Turkish security agencies, allowing them to identify tens of thousands of FETO supporters within the context of last year's defeated coup attempt.
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which left 250 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.
