Eighteen soldiers who were previously detained and subsequently released in an operation on an air force base in Konya were arrested on Saturday upon the demand of a prosecutor.
The initial operation took place on Oct. 20 over alleged ties to the Gülen movement, and 29 military staff members of various ranks and positions including two colonels were arrested.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry announced on Friday that 195 personnel, 158 of whom are officers, were dismissed from the Land Forces Command and Naval Forces Command on allegations of links to the faith-based Gülen movement.
Turkey experienced a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement despite the lack of any evidence to that effect.