The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Turkey detains more than 2000 over militant, coup links
TURKISH AUTHORITIES detained more than 2,000 people over the last week for suspected links to militant groups or last year’s failed coup attempt, the interior ministry said on Monday.
Turkey, which faces multiple security threats, including the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Islamic State militant group, has also widened a crackdown on alleged supporters of the July coup attempt.
In a statement, the interior ministry said 2,063 people had been detained for questioning in the past week.
A total of 999 of those were suspected of links to the autonomy-seeking PKK, which has carried out a three-decade insurgency against the government and is considered a terrorist organisation by the US, Turkey and Europe.
Another 966 were detained for suspected ties to the U.s.based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for orchestrating an attempted coup in July. Gulen denies any involvement and has condemned the coup.
Seventy people were detained over alleged links to Islamic State, while 28 more were held for suspected ties to “leftist terrorist groups”, the ministry said.
The ministry also said that 24 militants had been “neutralised” in operations over the past week, and of those, 13 killed.
It did not give further details. NEPAL POLICE Monday fired tear gas shells and baton charged workers of a pro-hindu party in Kathmandu, injuring more than a dozen of them when they were protesting against the Election Commission’s (EC) decision to remove “Hindu state and monarchy” clauses from the party’s statute.
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), a partner in the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Prachanda’s government, had staged a dharna outside the EC’S office against the “arbitrary” decision the body took on Friday .
The EC has said the clauses contradict the constitutional provisions of a republican system and secularism. The RPP has said the EC cannot take such a decision without giving it a chance to put across its side
RPP’S chairman and Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa led the protest outside the EC’S office when the clashes between the police and the party cadres erupted.
Police baton charged the workers and fired tear gas cells to disperse the agitators. More than a dozen RPP cadres were injured. Some policemen too received injures, officials said.
Former RPP chairman and senior party leader Pashupati Shumsher Rana and other lawmakers were among those injured, party sources said.
A party leader said the RPP may even walk out of the government. WITH PTI INPUTS