At least 194 people were arrested while 264 others were detained over the past 24 hours as part of a witch-hunt against the Gülen movement, according to Turkish news agencies.
Police carried out the operations in 29 provinces across Turkey. With most of the arrestees being former police officers, those arrested over the past day also included teachers, businessmen, academics, civil servants, a veterinarian and a former district mayor.
Among the detainees are businessmen, lawyers, police officers, teachers, dormitory managers, mine workers and shopkeepers.
The victims of Thursday 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 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 86,000 people have been purged from state bodies, over 41,000 detained and over 22,000 arrested since the coup attempt. Arrestees included journalists, judges, prosecutors, police and military officers, academics, governors and even a comedian. (Turkey Purge)