Istanbul police captured three fugitive members of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), including one who had been on the run for a decade, authorities announced Sunday.
Police identified the suspects as Mehmet Yılmaz, Abdullah Ilık and Serdar Uluocak. Yılmaz was wanted for membership in a terrorist group and was a user of ByLock, an encrypted messaging app developed and exclusively used by FETÖ members. He worked as an editor, reporter and editor-in-chief at publications controlled by FETÖ, including the now-defunct newspaper Zaman. Yılmaz was captured in a “gaybubet evi” (house of absence), a term used for safe houses operated by FETÖ.
Ilık was a high-level member of FETÖ and was in charge of secret prep schools operated by the group. He had been on the run for the past three years after a court sentenced him to more than six years in prison. Uluocak was a police officer linked to FETÖ.
FETÖ has faced increased scrutiny following the coup attempt that killed 251 people and injured nearly 2,200 others. Tens of thousands of people were detained, arrested or dismissed from public sector jobs following the attempt under a state of emergency.
The terrorist group faces operations almost daily as investigators continue to unravel its extensive network of infiltrators. However, an unknown number of FETÖ members, mostly high-ranking figures, fled Türkiye when the coup attempt was thwarted.