Detention warrants were issued on Tuesday for 79 teachers as part of an investigation into the faith-based Gülen movement, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
According to the report, as part of an Ankara-based investigation, police launched operations in 16 provinces to detain 79 teachers who were former staff members at schools closed by a state of emergency decree following a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016. 50 of 79 teacher have been detained so far.
The tr724 news website reported on early march that The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued detention warrants in a month for 300 teachers who worked in schools owned by people close to the Gülen movement.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) government pursued a crackdown on the Gülen movement following corruption operations in December 2013 in which the inner circle of the government and then-Prime Minister Erdoğan were implicated.
Erdoğan also accuses the Gülen movement of masterminding a failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016.
Despite the movement strongly denying involvement in the failed coup, Erdoğan launched a witch-hunt targeting the movement following the putsch.
A total of 62,895 people were detained in 2017 as part of investigations into the movement, according to Interior Ministry reports.
The number of people who have been investigated for alleged ties to Gülen movement reached 402,000 in March 2018, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on March 15.
Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and other civil servants since July 15, 2016 through government decrees issued as part of an ongoing state of emergency declared after the failed coup attempt.