Advertisement

Updated November 26th, 2019 at 18:35 IST

Turkey orders detention of 168 over suspected links to wanted cleric

168 people have been ordered to be detained by Turkish authorities, including military personnel, with suspected links to network that planned 2016 coup attempt

Reported by: Tanima Ray
Turkey
| Image:self
Advertisement

About 168 people have been ordered to be detained by the Turkish authorities on November 26 which include military personnel, with suspected links to the network that planned a 2016 coup attempt. The attempt killed 250 people following which Ankara cracked down on suspected followers of Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim cleric. The Turkish forces are still tracking down the network. The detainees include two civilians and 52 military personnel, including two retired colonels, a lieutenant colonel on active duty and two former majors who had already been expelled from the military, said the Istanbul prosecutor’s office to media. 

Read: Thousands Rally In Russia, Sudan And Turkey To Protest Against Gender Violence

Half of them were detained by early November 26, the office informed. Some 15 of the 27 detained people were caught by the Istanbul police as there were warrants issued by the prosecutors in a separate investigation over the use of ByLock, an encrypted messaging app used by Gulen’s network. Similarly, warrants were issued for another 50 people in the central province of Konya, the local news agency quoted. 36 soldiers and one civilian were ordered to detained by the Turkish prosecutors, the agency added.

Read: Erdogan To Trump: 'Turkey Will Not Give Up Russian S-400 Missiles'

About Gulen and his movement

Turkish Islamic scholar, Muhammed Fethullah Gülen has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999 and has denied any involvement. Gülen founded the Gülen movement which is reported to be followed by about 3-6 million people around the world. As per Gulen, the movement's participants believe in individual piety, ethical conduct, promote education, civil society, and religious tolerance initiatives and establish social networks. These networks self-describe as originating spontaneously, their constituent local entities functioning independently from each other. Turkish prosecutors accuse Gülen of attempts to overthrow the government by allegedly directing politically motivated corruption investigations by Gülen-linked investigators. They allege that the judiciary illegally wiretapped the executive office of the Turkish president with assistance perhaps from unnamed individuals in the American intelligence community. Gülen's alleged instigations or fomentations toward the 2016 coup attempt by factions are also part of the allegations.

Read: Turkey Issues Warrants For 133 Officers Over Coup Links

Western allies condemn the crackdown, Turkey defends it

The Turkish authorities have jailed 77,000 people whose trials are pending and dacked or suspended about 150,000 civil servants, military personnel and others from their jobs over suspected links to the attempt. Western allies and rights groups have raised questions and condemned Turkey's actions and criticized the President. Yet the country has defended its decisions saying that the crackdown is necessary to end security threat.

Read: American Held In Turkey As ISIS Suspect Returns To US


 

Advertisement

Published November 26th, 2019 at 16:56 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo