Turkey issues arrest warrants for 3 ex-generals under terror probe

Turkish prosecutors on Wednesday issued arrest warrants for four suspects, including three former brigadiers, over alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.

Authorities in the capital Ankara launched the investigation after being notified by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) on three retired brigadier generals and a "covert imam" thought to be affiliated to FETO, according to a statement by the prosecutors' office.

The suspects had been in contact with other members of the armed terror group via payphones and other means in Ankara and various other provinces where they had served, it added.

Police teams in Ankara arrested three of the suspects and are searching the remaining one, it added.

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.

Turkey 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 Havva Kara Aydin