ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkey on Wednesday detained more than 1,000 people with suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen and later temporarily suspended some 9,000 personnel from its police force in one of the largest operations in recent months against the movement that is blamed for last summer’s failed military coup.
Police launched simultaneous operations in all of Turkey’s 81 provinces detaining a total of 1,120 people connected to the police force, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Warrants were issued for the detention of 3,224 people, the agency said. It wasn’t immediately clear how many of those detained were police officers.
About 8,500 police officers participated in Wednesday’s operation, Anadolu reported.
Hours later, more than 9,000 personnel were temporarily removed from the country’s police force while they were being investigated for possible ties to Gulen’s movement, the agency reported.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu described the nationwide operations as an important step toward the government’s aim of “bringing down” the Gulen movement.