ISTANBUL: Turkish authorities began rounding up 155 suspected followers of the cleric Fethullah Gulen on Friday, police and media said.
Ankara accuses Gulen, who lives in the United States, of masterminding a failed coup in July 2016, a claim he denies. Since the coup attempt, the authorities have arrested thousands of his suspected followers and fired thousands more.
Friday’s roundup included warrants for 55 employees in 13 provinces of Isik Publications, a publishing company that printed Gulen’s books, Istanbul police said.
Warrants were also issued for 38 former police officers in six provinces who were accused of being members of Gulen’s purported network, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported. Twenty-four had been detained, it said.
In addition, police targeted 62 executives of five labor unions in a third operation spread across seven provinces, Anadolu said. Thirty-eight had been detained, it said.
The labor unions were part of Aksiyon Is Confederation, an association of unions that was shut down over suspected links to the Gulen network.
In the 18 months through December 2017, nearly 160,000 people have been arrested and 152,000 civil servants sacked as part of a post-coup crackdown, according to a report published by the United Nations on Tuesday.
The UN urged Turkey to end its state of emergency, which was declared after the coup and has been extended six times. It accused Ankara of mass arrests, arbitrary sackings, collective punishment and torturing detainees.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said the report was filled with unfounded allegations and compared the criticism to propaganda from militant groups.
The crackdown has also been criticized by Turkey’s Western allies, who accuse President Tayyip Erdogan of using the failed putsch as a pretext to quash dissent. Turkey says the measures are necessary to combat threats to national security.
Turkey targets 155 suspected Gulenists in new operations, police, media say
Turkey targets 155 suspected Gulenists in new operations, police, media say
US senator urges military action if Hamas, Hezbollah remained armed
- Graham’s remarks came a day after mediators urged Hamas and Israel to uphold Gaza ceasefire
- The 2nd phase of the Gaza truce envisages the demilitarization of the territory, including the disarmament of Hamas
JERUSALEM: US Senator Lindsey Graham called on Sunday for renewed military action against Hamas and Hezbollah if they fail to disarm and accused the Palestinian Islamist group of consolidating its power in Gaza.
The Republican politician, on a visit to Israel, is a staunch ally of US President Donald Trump.
Beginning in October, a fragile ceasefire has so far halted two years of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip despite both sides trading accusations of truce violations.
A separate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah also came into effect in November 2024 after more than a year of hostilities, though Israel continues to carry out strikes on Lebanese territory.
Israel has made dismantling the arsenals of both groups, allies of its arch-foe Iran, a key condition for any lasting peace.
“It’s imperative we come up with a plan quickly, put Hamas on a time clock, give them a period of time to achieve the goal of disarmament,” Graham said at a press conference during his visit.
“And if you don’t, I would encourage President Trump to unleash Israel to go finish off Hamas.”
“It’s a long, brutal war, but you cannot be successful anywhere in the region until you deliver in dealing Hamas out of the future of Gaza and disarming them,” Graham added, insisting that the second stage of the truce would fail if Hamas remains armed.
“Ninety days after the ceasefire, they are consolidating power in Gaza,” Graham said.
He also called for military engagement against Hezbollah if it too does not surrender its weapons.
“If Hezbollah refuses to give up their heavy weapons, down the road we should engage in military operations working with Lebanon, Israel and the United States, where we fly with Israel... to take Hezbollah out,” Graham said.
-- Opposition to Turkiye --
The Lebanese government has begun to disarm Hezbollah, starting in the country’s south, and insists it will complete the plan.
Israel, however, has questioned the effectiveness of the Lebanese military, and Hezbollah itself has repeatedly refused to lay down its weapons.
Graham’s remarks came a day after mediators the United States, Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye urged both sides in the Gaza war to uphold the ceasefire.
The mediators are pressing for the implementation of the second phase of the truce, which would involve an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the deployment of an international stabilization force and the establishment of an interim authority to govern the territory in place of Hamas.
The second phase of the Gaza truce also envisages the demilitarization of the territory, including the disarmament of Hamas.
Graham backed Israel’s opposition to Turkiye being included in the stabilization force, saying it would “rock Israel to its core.”
“There is no political support anywhere in Israel for having Turkiye being involved in the stabilising force,” he said.
Hamas, meanwhile, has called on the mediators and Washington to stop Israeli “violations” of the ceasefire in Gaza.
On Sunday, Israeli artillery shelling was reported in several parts of Gaza’s southern area of Khan Yunis, according to the civil defense agency, which operates under the authority of Hamas.
On Friday, six people, including two children, were killed in an Israeli bombing of a school serving as a shelter for displaced people, according to the agency.
