Turkey on Wednesday detained over 1,000 alleged supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, the biggest crackdown since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s victory in a referendum on ramping up his powers.
The dawn raids across the country came just a week after Erdogan narrowly won public blessing for the controversial changes to the constitution to create a presidential system.
They are the latest indication Turkey intends no let-up in the fight against its perceived enemies after the referendum, with fighter jets yesterday pounding Kurdish militant targets in Iraq and northern Syria.
A total of 1,009 suspects have so far been detained in raids in 72 provinces across the country, the official Anadolu news agency quoted Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu as saying.
Turkish authorities blame Gulen for masterminding the July failed military coup that aimed to oust Erdogan from power but he denies the charges.
Some 8,500 police officers were involved in the nationwide operation, Anadolu reported, adding that arrest warrants
had been issued for 390 suspects in Istanbul alone.