Turkish prosecutors ordered the arrest of 63 active-duty military personnel, including four colonels, over alleged ties to the failed 2016 coup attempt blamed on the Fethullah Terror Organisation (FETÖ), according to AP News.
The suspects—drawn from the army, navy, air force, and gendarmerie—were targeted in nationwide raids on 23 May 2025, with 56 detained. The operation underscores President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ongoing crackdown on perceived dissent nearly nine years after the violent bid to overthrow his government.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office stated the suspects were identified through intercepted communications, reaffirming FETÖ as the “greatest threat to the constitutional order.” Since the coup, which left 290 dead and saw rogue jets bomb parliament, over 25,800 military personnel have been detained in purges that reshaped Turkey’s institutions.
FETÖ, led by the late US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen—who died in October 2024—was once Erdoğan’s ally, helping him curb military influence in the 2000s. The alliance fractured in 2013 when Gülenist prosecutors pursued corruption investigations into Erdoğan’s inner circle, triggering a bitter feud.
The latest arrests coincide with heightened political tensions. Earlier in 2025, Istanbul’s opposition mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was jailed on corruption charges widely seen as politically motivated, sparking mass protests.
