Over Suspected Gulen Links

Turkey Orders Arrest of 122 Military Personnel

Date: 02 July 2019 - 21:52

News ID: ۶۷۶۳۳

ANKARA (Dispatches) – Turkey has ordered the arrest of 122 military personnel over suspected links to the network blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed military coup, prosecutors and the state-run Anadolu news agency said on Tuesday.
Ankara has accused U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of masterminding the attempted putsch in July 2016. He has denied any involvement.
Police have launched one operation in Istanbul, prosecutors there said. Authorities have also launched separate operations in the western coastal province of Izmir and the central province of Konya, Anadolu added.
Almost three years after the failed coup, more than 77,000 people have been jailed pending trial and about 150,000 civil servants, military personnel and others have been sacked or suspended from their jobs.
During the 2016 botched putsch, a faction of the Turkish military declared that it had seized control of the country and that the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was no more in charge. The attempt was, however, suppressed a few hours later.
Ankara has since accused Gulen of having orchestrated the coup. The opposition figure is also accused of being behind a long-running campaign to topple the government via infiltrating the country’s institutions, particularly the army, police and the judiciary.
Gulen, a former ally of Erdogan, has denied involvement. The cleric has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.
The Turkish government is seeking Gulen's extradition from the United States but Washington has so far rejected Ankara's requests.
Tens of thousands of people have been arrested in Turkey on suspicion of having links to Gulen and the failed coup. About 150,000 others, including military staff, civil servants and journalists, have been sacked or suspended from work over the same accusations.
The international community and rights groups have been highly critical of the Turkish president over the massive dismissals and the crackdown.
The Ankara government says the measures are necessary to combat threats to national security.