Erdogan Continues Anti-Gulen Purge 5 Years After Attempted Coup

Five years after surviving an attempted coup d’état he blamed on a cleric living in self-imposed exile in the United States, Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan is continuing his purge against those he claims were in cahoots with Fethullah Gulen, despite Gulen’s denials of being behind the coup attempt. Much of Erdogan’s angst was – and still is – aimed at members of the military, who led the coup. 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. The latest purge reportedly targeted 184 suspects, 123 of them serving members of the military, spread out across Turkey and Northern Cyprus.