ANKARA, December 17. /TASS/. The US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) started to make arrests of the members of the Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO), an Islamic social movement prohibited in Turkey, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated on Monday. The current Turkish government accuses FETO of an attempted coup in July 2016.

"The FBI are carrying out [investigative] activities in 15 states concerning the FETO case. In [the state of] New Jersey, arrests have already begun," the TRT channel quotes the minister.

On Sunday, the Turkish top diplomat stated that the US side is considering the possibility of extraditing FETO leader Fethullah Gulen.

On July 15, 2016, a group of Turkish soldiers and officers attempted to stage a coup d’·tat and overthrow Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. About 250 civilians were killed in clashes in Istanbul and Ankara, over 2,000 were injured. Ankara accuses FETO of staging the coup, with its leader Fethullah Gulen, currently residing in the US, being considered a key suspect in the criminal case.