News / Turkey

Turkish police arrest 63 suspects over links to Gulen network

Saturday, 28 April 2018 11:45 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 28 April 2018 11:47 AM ]

Paramilitary police and special force members walk outside the courthouse as nearly 500 suspects, including a number of generals and military pilots, accused of leading the July 2016 coup attempt and carrying out attacks from an air base in Ankara arrive for trial in Ankara, Turkey, on August 1, 2017. (Photo by AP)

Turkish police forces have arrested at least 63 people on suspicion of affiliation to a movement led by the US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the Ankara government accuses of having masterminded the July 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Istanbul Public Prosecutor's office had issued an arrest warrant for 103 people over membership in Gulen’s movement.

The sourced added that the suspects had been captured during simultaneous operations in 36 provinces. Operations are underway to arrest the remaining suspects.

During the botched putsch, a faction of the Turkish military declared that it had seized control of the country and the government of 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.

Additionally, the Ankara government has outlawed his movement, and has branded it as the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

This file picture shows self-exiled Turkish Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, the United States. (Photo by AFP)

Gulen has denounced the “despicable putsch” and reiterated that he had no role in it.

“Accusations against me related to the coup attempt are baseless and politically-motivated slanders,” he said in a statement.

The 77-year-old cleric has also called on Ankara to end its “witch hunt” of his followers, a move he said is aimed at “weeding out anyone it deems disloyal to President Erdogan and his regime.”

Turkish officials have frequently called on their US counterparts to extradite Gulen, but their demands have not been taken heed of.

Turkey, which remains in a state of emergency since the coup, has been engaged in suppressing the media and opposition groups suspected to have played a role in the failed coup.

Tens of thousands of people have been arrested in Turkey on suspicion of having links to Gulen and the failed coup. More than 110,000 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.

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