Turkey Issues Warrants For 360 People In Probe Targeting Gulen 'Supporters'

Fethullah Gulen

Prosecutors in Turkey have issued arrest warrants for 360 people in an operation targeting alleged supporters of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen within the army, state-run Anadolu news agency reported on November 29.

Anadolu reported that 333 of those facing arrest in the Istanbul-based operation were soldiers, 216 of them serving personnel. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government claims Gulen and his network orchestrated an attempted coup last year.

Gulen denies the charge.

Istanbul police officers were continuing operations to capture the suspects, Anadolu reported. The private Dogan news agency said seven of those facing arrest were pilots.

More than 50,000 people have been detained pending trial over links to Gulen, while 150,000 people have been fired or suspended from jobs in the public and private sectors since the July 15 failed coup, in which 250 people were killed.

Last week, nearly 700 people were detained in related investigations.

Turkey's Western allies and rights groups have voiced concern that Ankara is using the investigations to crack down on dissent.

With reporting by Reuters