Police on Sunday detained 36 academics at Erzurum’s Atatürk University, increasing the already-high number of intellectuals taken into custody as part of an investigation into a July 15 failed coup.
Academics targeted by Sunday’s operation had their homes raided and documents seized.
Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed some 240 people and wounded a thousand others. While the government accuses the Gülen movement of masterminding the putsch, the movement has repeatedly denied such allegations, condemning any intervention into democratically elected governments.
Some 82,000 people have been purged from state bodies, 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)