Turkey detains 40,000 people in response to failed coup

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More than 40,000 people have been detained in Turkey amidst ongoing federal investigations to uncover individuals and groups behind last month's failed coup to remove President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from office, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim (pictured above, center) said Wednesday. (Hakan Goktepe/Pool Photo via AP)

Turkey detains 40,000 people in response to failed coup
By Anna Giaritelli (@anna_giaritelli) • 8/17/16 7:35 PM
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/turkey-detains-40000-people-in-response-to-failed-coup/article/2599607

  "More than 40,000 people have been detained in Turkey amidst ongoing
   federal investigations to uncover individuals and groups behind last
   month's failed coup to remove President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from
   office, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Wednesday.
   
   About 20,355 of those detained have been formally arrested and another
   79,900 have been fired from their public duty jobs, including military,
   police, civil service and judiciary posts. Another 4,262 companies have
   been shut down, including 130 media organizations.
   
   The government is targeting those it thinks is linked to Fethullah
   Gulen, the U.S.-based cleric whom Erdogan has named as the individual
   behind the failed coup. Gulen exiled himself to the U.S. in 1999 and
   has denied any connection to starting the July 15 coup.
   
   Turkey has asked the U.S. to extradite Gulen, but State Department
   officials said they will do so only if they find evidence of his
   involvement.
   
   Turkey is a key NATO ally, partly because of its strategic location on
   both the Asian and European continents. "