Erdogan has said the purge is needed to wipe out what he calls the “virus” of Gulen from Turkish institutions.
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On July 15, a renegade faction within the military attempted to overthrow the country’s democratically-elected government, widely believed to have been orchestrated by USA based preacher Fetullah Gulen and his followers. Warrants had been issued for 173 judicial staff, of whom 136 were detained in the raid, the state-run Anadolu agency said.
Turkish police launched simultaneous raids on 44 companies in Istanbul on Tuesday and had warrants to detain 120 company executives as part of the investigation into last month’s attempted military coup, state-run Anadolu agency reported.
Erdogan vowed to rid Turkey of the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose followers in the security forces, judiciary and civil service he accuses of orchestrating the attempted power grab and of plotting to overthrow the state.
Turkish officials say they have handed over documents to USA officials concerning Gulen.
Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies any role and condemned the coup bid.
Ekrem Beyaztas was caught by border guards just south of the Turkish town of Kilis, a Turkish official said, asking not to be named.
“Our initial assessment is that he was trying to reach PYD-controlled parts of northern Syria in an attempt to seek protection”, the official said referring to Syria’s main Kurdish party, which Turkey considers a terrorist group because of its ties to Kurdish militants in Turkey.
Separately, a senior intelligence officer said operatives linked to Gulen have had an active relationship with PKK militants.
Before the failed coup, in which more than 240 people were killed, the authorities had already seized Islamic lender Bank Asya, taken over or closed several media companies and detained businessmen on allegations of funding the cleric’s movement. They were flown to Istanbul for questioning.
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Turkey is also seeking more than 30 diplomats who fled to other countries after they were recalled to Ankara as part of the post-coup investigation.
