A massive purge that was launched following the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey has yet to ease as the government continues to hunt down hundreds of people from all walks of life.
At least 398 people were arrested, while detention warrants were issued for 331 others over the past 24 hours, according to Turkish news agencies.
Police carried out the operations in 34 provinces across Turkey. With most of the arrestees being former police officers, those arrested over the past day also included teachers, businessmen, doctors, academics, judges, prosecutors, bank inspectors and even gas station attendants.
Among the detainees are court clerks, public servants, lawyers and police officers.
The victims of Wednesday’s operations carried out as part of the massive purge have been added to the already-huge group of people who have been either detained or arrested since July 15.
Turkey survived a military coup attempt that killed over 240 people and wounded a thousand others, on July 15. Immediately after the putsch, the government along with the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement and launched a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
Some 82,000 people have been purged from state bodies, nearly 40,000 detained and 20,000 arrested since the coup attempt. Arrestees included journalists, judges, prosecutors, police and military officers, academics, governors and even a comedian. (Turkey Purge)