Skip to main content

Turkey to arrest 249 Foreign Ministry staff over 2016 coup allegation 

Turkey to arrest 249 Foreign Ministry staff over 2016 coup allegation 
posted onMay 21, 2019
nocomment

Ankara order the arrest of 249 personnel of foreign ministry, accusing them of having participated in the 2016 failed coup, Reuters reported.

“The Ankara chief prosecutor’s office announced it has ordered the arrest of 249 members of Turkey’s foreign ministry,” the report reads.

 A number of 78 suspects have already been arrested.

The Turkish government has accused Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish political figure, of organizing the 2016 attempted coup. Ankara has asked The United Stated Government to transfer Gulen back to Turkey.

Gulen is a Turkish clergyman who has been in exile since 1999 in Pennsylvania. Gulen has been frequently denying any connection to the coup.

In the summer of 2016, Turkey faced a failed coup attempt against Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government. Over 250 civilians and army members were killed during the coup.

Ever since over 77000 were arrested while waiting to be prosecuted, and 150000 civil servants and military personnel were suspended from their jobs.