Ankara Orders Yet More Arrests in Connection with Coup Attempt

Authorities in Turkey have issued arrest warrants for 168 additional people wanted in connection with an attempted coup mounted in July 2016.  Many – if not most – of those being sought are military personnel; all are believed by authorities to be linked to Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, the man blamed for the coup attempt. Gulen is currently living in the US state of Pennsylvania, and Washington’s refusal to extradite him is said to be behind the relatively dismal state of relations between the two countries. The cleric denies any involvement. Some 250 people were killed in the coup attempt, which led to tens of thousands of people being arrested and jailed without trial, with several times that having lost their jobs. Rights groups are accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of using it as an excuse to crack down on free speech and dissent against his ever-tightening grip on power.