ANKARA: Turkish police detained dozens of people on Tuesday in a search for 167 suspects, many of them active duty soldiers, in a move against supporters of a Muslim preacher the government accuses of organizing a failed coup in 2016, state media reported.
The detentions were the latest in a four-year-old crackdown targeting the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. He denies involvement in the July 2016 putsch, in which some 250 people were killed.
Authorities launched an operation from the coastal province of Izmir in search of 110 suspects, including 16 pilots, colonels, and lieutenant colonels, across 26 provinces, broadcaster TRT Haber said. It said 89 suspects had been detained.
In a separate operation targeting Gulen’s followers, police sought 57 other suspects across 15 provinces, the state-owned Anadolu news agency said, adding that 32 people had been detained.
Police spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.
Since the abortive putsch, some 80,000 people have been held pending trial and about 150,000 civil servants, military personnel and others sacked or suspended. More than 20,000 people had been expelled from the Turkish military.
Rights groups and Turkey’s Western allies have criticized the scale of the crackdown, saying the government was using it as a pretext to quash dissent.
The government has denied the accusation, saying the measures are necessary for national security.
Turkey issues detention warrants for 167 over suspected Gulen links
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Turkey issues detention warrants for 167 over suspected Gulen links
- The detentions were the latest in a four-year-old crackdown targeting the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen
MSF says it will not share staff details demanded by Israel to access Gaza
- The aid groups say sharing such staff information could pose a safety risk
- Aid agencies dispute that substantial aid has been diverted
GENEVA: Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Friday it will not submit lists of staff demanded by Israel to maintain access to Gaza and the West Bank, saying it had not been able to obtain assurances over the safety of its teams.
MSF, which supports and helps staff hospitals in Gaza, is one of 37 international organizations that Israel ordered this month to stop work in the Palestinian territories unless they meet new rules including providing employee details.
The aid groups say sharing such staff information could pose a safety risk, pointing to the hundreds of aid workers who were killed or injured during the two-year Gaza war.
Israel’s diaspora ministry, which manages the registration process, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel has previously said the registrations were meant to prevent diversions of aid by Palestinian armed groups. Aid agencies dispute that substantial aid has been diverted.
MSF had said last week it would be prepared to share a partial list of Palestinian and international staff who had agreed to release that information, provided the list be used only for administrative purposes and not put its team at risk. It also said it wanted to retain control over the management of medical humanitarian supplies.
“However, despite repeated efforts, it became evident in recent days that we were unable to build engagement with Israeli authorities on the concrete assurances required,” MSF said in a statement.
It said there could be a devastating impact on humanitarian services if it is banned from operating in Gaza and the West Bank, amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
