Turkish police detained 494 people between Nov. 5 and Nov. 12 as part of its post-coup crackdown targeting followers of the Gülen movement, according to a statement by the Turkish Interior Ministry on Monday.
A total of 19,708 people had been detained over Gülen links in 2018 as of the end of September, the statement added.
Meanwhile, the Ağrı Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Monday issued detention warrants for eight military members, two civilians and a prison guard over their alleged affiliation with the movement. Police raided houses in 10 provinces and detained as many people.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (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 coup attempt in July 2016.
Despite the movement strongly denying involvement in the failed coup, the Turkish government launched a witch-hunt targeting the group following the abortive putsch.
Since then, some 140,000 public servants have been dismissed by government decrees and more than 600,000 people investigated on terrorism charges.
The European Commission said in a report on April 17 that since the introduction of a now-ended state of emergency on July 20, 2016, over 150,000 people were taken into custody and 78,000 were arrested.