Turkey Continues Anti-Gulen Crackdown over 2016 Coup Attempt

Turkish state prosecutors on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for 118 people sought for suspected ties to Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric and former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan now living in self-exile in the United States. Erdogan, who has expanded the parameters of his autocratic style of rule in recent years, believes that Gulen was behind a failed coup mounted in the summer of 2016. Many of the arrest warrants are for members of the country’s military or security forces. Turkish authorities have already jailed an estimated 80,000 people they claim were involved in the coup attempt, while some 150,000 more have lost their jobs. Erdogan believes that Gulen’s supporters have quietly installed themselves in mid- to top-level positions in security, judicial and other government spheres as part of an effort to hijack the state. Gulen denies the accusations. The arrests have been a regular feature of Turkish life for almost four years, with Erdogan’s critics accusing him of seeking to divert public attention from other domestic issues such as the economy and Syrian refugees.