Turkish spies have snatched 80 citizens from 18 countries

Turkey’s intelligence agents snatched 80 citizens from 18 countries as part of a sweeping operation against suspected members of the 2016 coup attempt, a deputy prime minister said on Thursday.

Ankara accuses US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen and followers of being behind the July 15 coup attempt and has vowed to wipe out the movement, not just in Turkey but also in foreign countries where it has influence.

Mr Gulen denies the charges, insisting he runs a peaceful movement known as Hizmet (Service), but Turkey calls Mr Gulen’s group the Fethullah Terror Organisation (Feto).

“The MIT [National Intelligence Organisation] has so far taken 80 Feto members from 18 countries and brought them back to Turkey,” said Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag on Thursday.

Turkey has chased Gulen members inside and outside the country since the failed coup, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledging to cleanse state institutions of what he called the Gulen virus.

The figure of 80 disclosed by Mr Bozdag is much larger than previously assumed and indicates that MIT has taken suspects in secret operations. Mr Bozdag did not say when or from which countries the citizens were taken.

Last month five Turkish teachers and a doctor, all alleged Gulenists, were flown to Turkey from Kosovo in a covert operation by the Pristina interior ministry and MIT.

The move sparked a crisis in Kosovo, with the prime minister and president saying that they had not been informed.

But Mr Bozdag trumpeted the Kosovo operation, full details of which have yet to be disclosed, as an example of MIT’s success.

“MIT has dealt a big blow to Feto through operations carried out abroad,” Mr Bozdag said.

“The operation in Kosovo is a big accomplishment.”

Kosovo’s Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj sacked his top security chiefs over their involvement, drawing an angry rebuke from Mr Erdogan.

“Hey Kosovo prime minister, who told you to do this? “Since when did you start to protect those who tried to launch a coup in Turkey?” he said.