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Turkey Moves to Arrest Hundreds More Over Failed 2016 Coup

Turkey has reportedly issued arrest warrants for nearly 700 people allegedly having ties to a cleric the Erdoğan government blames for the 2016 failed coup. According to media reports, Turkish prosecutors are seeking the detention of 467 people for allegedly cheating on a police promotion exam in 2009. Warrants have also reportedly been issued for 157 military officers – some 100 of whom remain on active duty – in addition to 71 Justice Ministry employees. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly accused his ally-turned-foe Fethullah Gülen, who is currently living in self-imposed exile in the United States, of orchestrating the attempted putsch, during which more than 250 people were killed. Since then, Ankara has arrested some 80,000 individuals and dismissed about 150,000 others from state-related jobs. Some rights groups have denounced the crackdown as an assault on civil liberties geared toward consolidating Erdoğan’s power.