Monday, September 24, 2018 11:08:34 PM
Turkish Authorities Arrest 61 Soldiers over Gulen Movement

Turkish authorities have ordered the arrest of 61 soldiers from the navy and land forces, including senior officers, on suspicion of affiliation to a movement led by US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of having masterminded and orchestrated the mid-July 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

According to a report by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency on Monday, 18 of those ordered to be detained were on active duty as part of a probe into the Turkish Land Forces Command and the Turkish Naval Forces Command.

Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued the arrest warrants on Monday as part of a probe into the Turkish Land Forces Command and the Turkish Naval Forces Command, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

It also said that 18 of those suspects were on-duty servicemen, adding that the total number of those ordered to be detained included 13 majors and 12 captains from the land forces and 24 first lieutenants from the navy.

In a separate report on Monday, Anadolu said that Istanbul police detained 21 people, who were accused of using an encrypted messaging application, known as ByLock, allegedly used by members of the Gulen movement.

It added that the arrests were made after police forces conducted anti-terror raids at 54 locations in 24 districts of the city.

According to Istanbul police, most of those detained were teachers who formerly taught at the network’s schools or public institutions.

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