Turkey orders 532 arrests over Fethullah Gulen links

Investigation being conducted in 62 provinces as part of a sustained crackdown against the network of US-based preacher.

Turkish prosecutors have ordered the arrest of 532 suspects, including 459 serving military personnel, in an operation targeting people linked to Fethullah Gulen, the Muslim preacher and businessman Ankara says was behind a 2016 attempted coup, according to Anadolu news agency. The investigation, announced on Monday, was being conducted in 62 provinces as part of a sustained crackdown said to be targeting Gulen’s network that has gone on since the coup attempt. Ankara has, for years, accused supporters of the US-based Gulen of establishing a “parallel state” following its own agenda by infiltrating the police, judiciary, military and other state institutions.