G.E., a former police chief in Samsun who was dismissed over alleged links to the Gülen movement following a failed coup attempt last year, was beaten by Ramazan Ç., who claimed the police chief had threatened his family in order to get his help to flee Turkey.

According to a story by the Doğan news agency on Friday, Ramazan Ç. beat G.E. after he went to his office and threatened to harm his family in Kosovo if he refused to help the police chief flee to Kosovo.

Beaten by Ramazan Ç. on a street in the 19 Mayıs neighborhood of Samsun’s İlkadım district, G.E., the former Samsun-Çarşamba Airport police chief, was taken to a hospital after police arrived on the scene.

A video of the attack was uploaded online by G.E.’s relatives, and Ramazan Ç. was taken into custody for questioning over the incident.

Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.

Although the movement denies any involvement, the Turkish government launched a widespread purge aimed at cleansing alleged sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions.

In the currently ongoing post-coup purge, over 135,000 people, including thousands within the military, have been purged due to their real or alleged connection to the Gülen movement, according to a statement by the labor minister on Jan. 10. As of March 1, 93,248 people were being held without charge, with an additional 46,274 in pre-trial detention. (turkishminute.com) March 10, 2017