Turkey arrests 1,656 for social media posts over past six months
Turkish authorities have arrested 1,656 people in the past six months for their posts on social media as part of a massive crackdown Ankara has been waging against plotters and sympathizers of a failed coup in the summer.
Turkey's Interior Ministry said Saturday that legal action had been taken against a total of 3,710 people for allegedly supporting terrorist organizations or insulting officials on social media.
Besides those arrested, 1,203 were released on probation, 767 were released and 84 others were still in detention pending a trial, the ministry said.
It added that at least 10,000 others had been investigated and legal procedures were underway against them. Reports said that police had identified the suspects online.
Turkey has been pressing ahead with a massive crackdown to nab those behind the July-15 coup attempt.
Around 40,000 people have been detained in Turkey while over 100,000 have been discharged from work on suspicion of having links to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cleric whom Ankara accuses of having masterminded the coup plot. Gulen has denied the allegation.
Since the coup, more than 150 media outlets have been also shut down.
Turkey has also been cracking down on those allegedly linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) amid the military operations against the militants in the country’s southeast. Thousands have been killed and many more arrested in the crackdown.
Turkey has faced increasing criticism from the West over its application of a strict anti-terror law, which has affected many journalists and online users. Authorities say frequent restrictions on people’s access to social media platforms are needed to prevent the spread of material that would harm public security.
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