Turkey orders detention of 138 suspects over coup bid

Turkish prosecutors on Friday issued detention warrants for 138 suspects over their alleged links to a group accused of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016.

The prosecutor also added that detention warrants were also issued to soldiers on duty and expelled military students.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said that the police launched operations simultaneously in 23 provinces to catch 46 suspects with suspected links to the network headed by the U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Upon the order of the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in the northwestern city of Bursa, among them are 26 soldiers in active service and 15 expelled military school students, noted Anadolu.

In a separate investigation, Ankara prosecutors issued detention warrants for 92 actively serving soldiers from the Turkish Air Forces, the agency said.

It said that 53 had been captured in operations launched in 22 provinces.

All of the suspects allegedly contacted the Gulen network via payphone, according to press reports.

The Turkish government blamed Gulen and his network for the failed military coup in July 2016, in which 250 people were killed.