Turkey orders detention of 210 military personnel

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Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

(Reuters/NAN) Istanbul prosecutors have ordered the detention of 210 military personnel over suspected links to the network condemned by Ankara for orchestrating a failed 2016 military coup, the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said on Friday.

It said the suspects from the air, marine and land forces, as well as the gendarmerie and coast guard, included five colonels, seven lieutenant colonels, 14 majors, and 33 captains.

They were suspected of being supporters of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Turkish authorities of masterminding the failed putsch three years ago.

Gulen has denied any role.

Over 77,000 people have been jailed pending trial since the coup and widespread arrests are still routine.

Authorities have suspended or sacked 150,000 civil servants and military personnel.

The prosecutor’s office said it believed the number of Gulen supporters who remained unidentified within the military was…



Source: News Agency of Nigeria