Turkey orders arrest of 82 military personnel over suspected Gulen links
Turkey has ordered the arrest of 82 military personnel over
suspected links to the network accused by Ankara of carrying out an attempted
coup in 2016, Euronews said on Tuesday.
Ankara blames U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who
has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, for masterminding
an attempted coup in July 2016. Gulen has denied any involvement.
Police are looking for 42 of the suspects in an operation
based in the western coastal province of Izmir but that is also being carried
out across 17 other provinces. Euronews said that authorities believed the
suspects had been called by members of Gulen’s network from pay phones.
The remaining 40 suspects, including soldiers on active
duty, are being sought in an operation based in the central Konya province, but
carried out across 25 other provinces.
Almost three years after the failed coup attempt, more than
77,000 people have been jailed pending trial, while some 150,000 people from
the civil service, military, and elsewhere have been sacked or suspended from
their jobs under the crackdown. Widespread operations are still being carried
out regularly by the Turkish government.
