Turkey: Fugitive couple linked to FETO arrested

ANKARA

A fugitive couple with suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, have been arrested in the Turkish capital, according to a security source.

Acting on a tip, police teams in Ankara started to follow the suspects, identified only by the initials B.U. and R.U. and stopped their vehicle on road to Istanbul, said the source on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Police teams arrested the couple who have been sought since 2017.

Husband B.U. was a physics teacher, and wife R.U. a philosophy teacher before they were dismissed after the coup bid.

FETO and its US-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.

​​​​​​​*Writing by Sena Guler