Turkish police detain 22 suspects over links to failed coup

Turkish police on Wednesday rounded up 22 suspects in the western province of Izmir over their alleged links to a network accused of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016.

The state-run TRT reported that the police conducted several raids in Izmir city and five districts of the province to apprehend the suspects who were allegedly linked to the Gulen movement, which the Turkish government accused of attempting a coup on 15 July 2016.

The detained allegedly used the movement’s crypto communication programme, “ByLock” and conducted suspicious transactions in Bank Asya, which the Turkish government said is operated by the Gulen movement

The movement is allegedly led by and named after Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom his followers regard as a spiritual leader.

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Ankara has accused the US-based preacher of masterminding the attempted coup, in which at least 250 people were killed.

The Turkish government has launched a massive crackdown on suspects with links to the network in the aftermath of the coup attempt.

(Xinhua/NAN)