Of those, more than 8,000 were formally arrested pending trial. Gulen, whose followers run an vast network of schools, charities and businesses, strongly denies directing the coup.
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Twenty-one journalists were appearing in court Friday after being detained as part of a sweeping crackdown following Turkey’s July 15 failed military coup, while the country’s Ministry of European Union Affairs suspended several staff.
Gulen is also accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state. Authorities in March shut down Zaman, widely seen as the Gulen movement’s flagship media organisation.
At least 8,651 military personnel were involved, it said, adding that they constituted 1.5 percent of the Armed Forces’ personnel.
However, the list includes journalists, such as Sahin Alpay, known for their leftist activism who do not share the religious world view of the Gulenist movement. This has fuelled the concerns that the investigation may be turning into a witch-hunt of the president’s political opponents. Earlier this week, the government issued an additional 42 arrest warrants for journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
“If we hadn’t removed the people this coup attempt would have been successful”, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara Friday, speaking about the crackdown.
In six years, Turkey has transformed from a model of Islamic piety, Western-style democracy and economic growth to a nation racked with tension, terror attacks and a dominating President whose power has reached new levels after the failed coup attempt.
“Many prosecutors and judges of the parallel state structure [Gulen network] escaped to Germany and Germany has to extradite them”.
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“Besides, the coup plotter is in your country anyway”.
