Turkish authorities on Tuesday detained 115 soldiers suspected of having links to the US-based Muslim cleric blamed by Ankara for a failed coup attempt in 2016, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The soldiers are among a total of 176 soldiers that prosecutors ordered to be detained as part of an ongoing investigation into cleric Fethullah Gulen’s network. According to the report, 108 of the soldiers are currently on active duty. The suspects include six F-16 pilots and four district gendarmerie commanders, the agency said.
Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999, denies involvement in the coup attempt.
Some 77,000 people have been arrested and around 130,000 others, including military personnel, have been dismissed from state jobs in an ongoing government crackdown on Gulen’s network since the coup, AP said.