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Ankara prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 25 suspects, including four currently employed in the Foreign Ministry, as part of an investigation into the clandestine Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) network within the institution, the prosecutor's office said Tuesday.
According to a statement from the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the suspects are believed to be part of the so-called “secret structure” of the FETO embedded in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The individuals were identified through evidence including the use of ByLock—an encrypted messaging app linked to FETO—records of contact through public payphones, and witness testimonies linking them to the group.
Nineteen of the suspects had previously been dismissed from the ministry over alleged ties to FETO. Four are still working in the institution, while two are currently employed in other government bodies.
Police operations, centered in Ankara and spanning eight provinces, are ongoing to apprehend the suspects, the statement added.
Sources within the Foreign Ministry said the suspects were identified following months of detailed coordination between the Justice Ministry and national security units. The sources noted that 19 individuals and their associates had already been removed from the ministry in earlier purges.
The suspects are believed to have held roles within the organization’s covert operations and used the ByLock app, long identified by Turkish authorities as a key communication tool for the group.
Ministry officials stressed that efforts against FETO continue “resolutely both inside and outside Türkiye.”
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