Ömer Turan, a staunch supporter of Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been detained due to his report on Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Secretary Hakan Fidan, Sputnik news agency reported on Friday.
According to the report, Turan was detained on accusations of affiliating Fidan with Gülen movement. Turan, who denied having any links to Gülen movement, claimed he did not insult Fidan in his report and his detention was an operation against Erdoğan.
Turkey survived a controversial military coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that killed 249 people. Immediately after the putsch the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 50,510 people have been arrested and 169,013 have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup. (turkishminute.com)
