60 soldiers detained, 128 detention issued

US, EU slam AI chief’s arrest

ANKARA/GENEVA, June 8, (Agencies): Turkish authorities detained 60 soldiers on Wednesday and issued detention orders for another 128 people in operations targeting the network of a Muslim cleric the government blames for last year’s failed coup, local media reported.

Some 50,000 people have been arrested since the failed putsch in July and around 150,000 dismissed or suspended, including soldiers, police, teachers and public servants, over alleged links with the movement of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Authorities detained the soldiers in raids focused on the central Turkish province of Konya and 32 other provinces, the Hurriyet daily said. Separately, the state-run Anadolu Agency said detention orders had been issued for 128 people with ties to the publishing company Kaynak Holding, which was linked to the Gulen movement before authorities seized it.

Hundreds of firms like Kaynak, many of them smaller provincial businesses, were seized by authorities in the postcoup crackdown and are now run by government-appointed administrators.

Of the 128 people being sought, Anadolu said 39 people had been detained so far in an operation carried out in Istanbul and seven other provinces.

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There was no official comment on the detentions. On Tuesday, authorities detained the local chair of Amnesty International, Taner Kilic, and 22 other lawyers in the Aegean coastal province of Izmir for suspected links to Gulen’s network, the rights group said.

Salil Shetty, head of Amnesty International, told Reuters in an interview that the organisation was calling for the release of Taner and the 22 lawyers, and said they should be provided with the necessary legal support.

“It’s a very non-transparent operation the way in which they function,” he said, referring to Turkish authorities. “We don’t see a direct connection with Amnesty International on this issue, it’s a much broader problem.”

Shetty said it was not clear what evidence Turkish authorities had against Taner that would link him to Gulen’s network, but added Amnesty International was fighting the decision.

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, has denied involvement in the coup and condemned it.

The scope of the purges, which have also seen more than 130 media outlets shut down and some 150 journalists jailed, has unnerved rights groups and Turkey’s Western allies, who fear President Tayyip Erdogan is using the coup as a pretext to muzzle dissent and purge opponents.

Turkish officials, however, say the crackdown is necessary due to the gravity of the coup attempt which killed 240 people on July 15.

US concerned by arrest of AI chief:

The United States urged its ally Turkey to respect due process Wednesday after police arrested the head of the human rights group Amnesty International’s chapter in the country. Washington was “deeply concerned” about the arrest of Taner Kilic, who was among 23 detained on Tuesday in Izmir, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.

Kilic was only “the latest in a series of respected human rights defenders, journalists, academics, and activists detained in Turkey,” she said in a statement.

“The detentions of individuals such as Mr Kilic chill public debate and undermine the quality of democracy,” Nauert warned.

Kilic and the others arrested with him are suspected of links to the movement of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of fomenting last year’s failed coup.

But Amnesty International, which campaigns for the freedom of political prisoners the world over, said the arrests were part of an “arbitrary” crackdown.

The group said it did not believe Kilic’s arrest was connected to his position at Amnesty, which he has directed in the country since 2014.

The Turkish government claims Gulen ordered the July 15 attempt to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and seize power.

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Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies the accusation.

More than 100,000 people have been sacked or suspended from the public sector under a state of emergency imposed a few days after the failed putsch.

Rights group have previously criticized the vast crackdown, saying it has extended well beyond coup suspects to Erdogan’s opponents.

EU to keep close eye on AI detainee:

The European Union says that it will keep a close eye on Turkey’s treatment of an Amnesty International leader who was detained early this week as part of a wider crackdown on people suspected of links to a cleric accused of orchestrating last year’s failed coup.

The EU on Thursday called on Turkey “to clarify the charges swiftly” and reminded Ankara to “fully respect the presumption of innocence.” The human rights advocacy group said its chairman in Turkey, lawyer Taner Kilic, was detained at his home in the western Turkish city of Izmir along with 22 other attorneys.

Amnesty said it was not clear why Kilic was suspected of having ties to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen’s movement.

NBA player’s father released:

Turkey released the father of NBA player Enes Kanter, an outspoken critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, local media reported on Wednesday.

A court in the northwestern province of Tekirdag released Mehmet Kanter under “judicial control”, the equivalent of being freed under supervision, Dogan news agency said.

Kanter’s father had been detained in connection with an inquiry into the movement led by US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of ordering last July’s coup bid.

Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, vehemently denies the claims.

Kanter, 25, a centre for Oklahoma City Thunder, previously backed Gulen openly in Twitter postings after the attempted putsch, which led to his family disowning him and denouncing his support for Gulen.