At least 674 people were detained as part of its massive post-coup witch campaign targeting the alleged member of the Gülen movement over the past week. In a written statement on Monday, the Turkish Interior Ministry said 674 people were rounded up in operations targeting the Gülen movement in between Oct 30 to Nov 6.
Meanwhile, in a Çankırı-based investigation 15 women were detained by police in Çankırı, Ankara, İstanbul, Kahramanmaraş, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Samsun and Manisa provinces on Monday following the detention warrants issued by Çankırı Chief Prosecutor’s Office for 19 people over their alleged links to the Gülen movement.
Turkey survived a controversial military coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that killed 249 people. Immediately after the putsch, the 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 has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since July 15. 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. (SCF with turkeypurge.com)
