Detention warrants were issued for 23 dismissed judges and prosecutors in İzmir as part of an investigation into the Gülen movement and a failed coup attempt on July 15.
Out of the 23 jurists for whom detention warrants were issued, 20 had been taken into custody as of Saturday noon by police in İzmir after raids on a number of locations.
On Friday, Turkey’s Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) dismissed 202 judges and prosecutors over their links to the faith-based Gülen movement, which Turkish authorities accuse of being behind the failed coup attempt in July last of year.
Although the Gülen movement strongly denies having any role in the putsch, the government accuses it of having masterminded the foiled coup. Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, called for an international investigation into the coup attempt, but President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
In the currently ongoing post-coup purge, over 135,000 people, including thousands within the military, have been purged due to their real or alleged connection to the Gülen movement, according to a statement by the labor minister on Jan. 10. As of March 1, 93,248 people were being held without charge, with an additional 46,274 in pre-trial detention.
According to tally by turkeypurge.com, a total of 4,272 judges and prosecutors were purged over alleged coup involvement or terrorist links.