Turkey arrested over 500 people suspected of ties to Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric living in self-imposed exile in the United States accused of fomenting an attempted coup d’état, according to reports. Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced the 543 arrests on Tuesday evening. He said that some 700 arrest warrants had been issued. They are suspected of collecting and distributing money sent from abroad by Gulen supporters. The operation was carried out simultaneously in 59 of Turkey’s 81 provinces.
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More than 300,000 people have been arrested in Turkey since the failed coup over suspected ties to Gulen. Some 150,000 civil servants, including members of the military, were initially fired or suspended in the wake of the attempted coup, while another 20,000 were expelled from the military.
Gulen denies being behind the coup attempt. The attempted July 15, 2016 coup left 251 people dead and more than 2,700 injured.