Turkish prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for nearly 1,000 people suspected of links to the Gülen movement, in a sweeping operation announced days before the tenth anniversary of the country's failed 2016 military coup. Justice Minister Akin Gürlek said authorities were searching for 968 suspects in the nationwide crackdown.
The government blames U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen for orchestrating the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, in which more than 250 people were killed and around 2,000 wounded. Gülen, who denied the accusations until his death in 2024 at age 83, had lived in exile in the United States.
Following the coup attempt, Ankara declared a state of emergency that lasted until 2018 and carried out mass purges across the military, judiciary, media, education and civil service. Hundreds of thousands were detained and tens of thousands dismissed from their posts during that period.