More than 1,000 people have been arrested in the crackdown which targeted alleged supporters of the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen Olcay Duzgun/Dogan/AFP/Getty ImagesMore than 9,000 police officers have been suspended and 1,000 people have been arrested in Turkey’s latest crackdown following last year’s failed coup. Alleged supporters of the US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen were targeted. Mr Gulen is accused of masterminding the attempt to topple President Erdogan last summer. Suleyman Soylu, the interior minister, said that the government had targeted a Gulen network “that infiltrated our police force, called ‘secret imams’ ”. Mr Erdogan has been accused of using the uprising as a pretext to target dissidents and tighten his grip on power.

Source: The Times April 27, 2017 08:18 UTC