Turkey Orders Arresting 128 Military Personnel over Suspected Gulen Ties

By Staff, Agencies

Turkey ordered the arrest of 128 military personnel over suspected links to the network accused by Ankara of orchestrating the 2016 attempted coup, state-run Anadolu news agency said Tuesday.

Police were looking for just over half of the suspects in the western coastal province of Izmir and the rest across 30 other provinces, Anadolu said.

They were suspected of being supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Turkish authorities of masterminding the failed putsch three years ago. Gulen has denied any role.

More than 77,000 people were jailed pending trial, while about 150,000 people from the civil service, military, and elsewhere have been sacked or suspended from their jobs under crackdowns since the attempted coup.

Rights groups and Turkey's Western allies have criticized the scope of the crackdown, saying Erdogan has used the abortive coup as a pretext to quash dissent.

The government said the security measures are necessary due to the gravity of the threat Turkey faces, and has vowed to eradicate Gulen's network in the country.