Turkey issued arrest warrants for 72 university staff, state media said on Monday, including a former adviser to the main opposition leader who staged a mass rally on Sunday to protest a crackdown since a failed military coup last year. Police have so far detained 42 of the staff from Istanbul’s prestigious Bogazici University and Medeniyet University, which is based on the Asian side of the country’s largest city, Anadolu said. The other 64 people being detained were from Medeniyet University, 19 of whom were medical faculty professors, Anadolu said. All were suspected users of ByLock, an encrypted messaging app the government says was used by Gulen’s followers. The government says the crackdown and constitutional changes are necessary to address security threats.

Source: Egypt Independent July 10, 2017 08:37 UTC