Turkey orders arrest of 200 people over 'Gulen links'

Turkey has continued its crackdown on alleged supporters of an exiled Muslim cleric.

1 min read

15 January, 2019

The suspects are alleged to have links to Gulen [Getty]

At least 200 Turkish people have been arrested for alleged links to an exiled Muslim cleric who has been blamed for an attempted coup in the country in 2016.

Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper reported 192 people have been detained for their alleged links to US-based Fethullah Gulen and comes after 100 military personnel were detained last week.

The official Anadolu news agency reported that 222 arrest warrants had been issued for alleged Gulenists.

The police raids took place across Turkey and in more than 30 provinces, in the latest crackdown which has seen 31,088 people convicted or jailed while over 100,000 have lost their jobs over their alleged Gulen links.

Ankara's public prosecution said it ordered the arrest of 3 lieutenants and 47 sergeants on Tuesday, and 55 more for using the ByLock messaging app.

Nationwide raids against suspected Gulenists have been launched over the past three years, since the plot to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The attempted coup killed some 250 people, while Gulen was also blamed for the assassination of a Russian ambassador in Turkey.

Agencies contributed to this story.