Turkey arrests hundreds over suspected ties to failed 2016 coup
Turkish authorities have arrested hundreds of people they suspect have ties to the purported leader of a failed overthrow of the government three and a half years ago, prosecutors said on Tuesday, according to UPI report.
More than 200 people were detained on warrants from prosecutors in the western Turkish city of Izmir. Among those arrested were six military fighter pilots and four local police chiefs, as well as dozens of active duty soldiers and former troops suspected of being linked to exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Turkish officials said Tuesday they identified many of the suspects by monitoring phone communications between military "infiltrators" and handlers.
Most of the arrests were made in and around Izmir, where Gulen had a substantial following before he left for the United States in 2000. He now lives in Pennsylvania.