News / Turkey

Turkey launches operation to arrest 70 military officers over Gulen links: Report

Tuesday, 10 October 2017 10:30 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 10 October 2017 10:32 AM ]

Turkish police are stationed outside the Sincan prison complex in Ankara Province on September 28, 2017, during a hearing for individuals suspected of participation in a failed coup. (Photo by AFP)

Turkish police have reportedly launched an operation to arrest 70 military personnel over their alleged links to the US-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of masterminding a failed coup last year.

Turkey’s private Dogan news agency reported that police conducted simultaneous raids across seven Turkish provinces on Tuesday to arrest the suspects, noting that the operation focused in the central city of Konya.

The report further said that two colonels, seven captains, and 36 lieutenants had been among those targeted in the police raids.

The latest operation comes as the Turkish authorities’ crackdown on supporters of Gulen, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s former-ally-turned-foe, continues some 15 months after the failed putsch.

Over the past week alone, Turkish authorities arrested nearly 800 people over alleged ties to Gulen.

Dogan said that 62 of the suspects sought by police on Tuesday were in the air force, adding that some of them were pilots. Police were reportedly conducting searches of their homes and places of work.

Turkey witnessed a coup attempt against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 15, 2016. The coup attempt was suppressed some two days, however, and a crackdown began on perceived putschists.

Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, policemen, teachers, and civil servants and has arrested more than 50,000 others.

Gulen has denied the charges of having masterminded the coup.

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