Turkey to detain 82 military officers over alleged Gulen links

Turkey has ordered the detention of eighty two military personnel in AN operation targeting suspected supporters of a Muslim reverend who Ankara accuses of masterminding a failed coup in 2016, per state-owned Anadolu news agency.

Operations targeting the network of United States-based religious person and businessperson Fethullah Gulen have continuing beneath a four-year-long crushing since the tried coup in July 2016 to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Gulen denies involvement within the attempt, within which some 250 folks were killed, excluding the putschists. A former ally of Erdogan, he has lived in voluntary exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.

Tuesday’s operation was adjoin thirty-nine provinces and sixty three folks have already been arrested, Anadolu said. Seventy of the suspects were on active duty.

The detentions were ordered by the chief public prosecutor within the western coastal province of Izmir, Anadolu said, adding that it additionally took steps to sack 848 military personnel, together with upper-level officers, over links to the network.

Turkey has been condemned by its Western allies and rights teams over the crackdown, purges and erosion of judicial independence following the coup bid.

Critics accuse the govt of exploitation the incident as a pretext to silence opposition in the country.

The government says the purges and arrests are in line with the rule of law and aim to get rid of Gulen’s supporters from state establishments and different elements of society.