Turkish prosecutors order 149 people, mainly from security forces, to be detained over 2016 coup attempt

On Monday, Turkey ordered the detention of 149 people over suspected links to the network Ankara says orchestrated a failed coup in 2016. Among those named in the detention order issued by the prosecutor’s office in the western province of Balikesir were 74 previously fired by the security forces. They included six former police chiefs, the Anadolu news agency reported.

In the southeastern Gaziantep province, prosecutors ordered the detention of 33 people, including 24 security forces personnel on active duty, according to the report. It said that in the western Bursa province, prosecutors ordered the detention of 42 people, including six soldiers on active duty.

The authorities have carried out a sustained crackdown on alleged followers of the US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen since the failed coup in July 2016, in which Gulen denies any involvement.

Since the coup attempt, about 80,000 people have been held pending trial, and some 150,000 civil servants, military personnel and others have been fired or suspended, according to Reuters.