Turkey prosecutors order detention of 144 people over ‘Gulen links’

The Istanbul chief prosecutor said on Friday it had ordered the detention of 126 suspects employed in the judicial system with alleged links to the network of Fethullah Gulen. Ankara says the cleric orchestrated a July 2016 coup attempt. Gulen denies involvement in the coup. The prosecutor’s office said the suspects had lived in houses where the network trained individuals for work in the judicial system. The network then “sought to place those who passed the exam in the judicial system as prosecutors or judges,” while the rest became part of the network’s lawyer organization, according to the office. In a separate operation on Friday, Ankara chief prosecutor’s office ordered the detention of 18 suspects accused of links to Gulen who were working as engineers for the defense industry company Havelsan.