Turkish police detain several people in post-coup raids: agency

A Turkish special forces police officer guards the entrance of the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, August 5, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas


ISTANBUL Turkish police raided more than 100 places in Istanbul at dawn on Thursday and arrested several people in an investigation into last month's failed coup, Dogan news agency reported.


Police from the financial-crimes unit were conducting the operations to root out sympathizers of a religious movement led by Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Islamic cleric the government has said masterminded the intervention, it said.


Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said late on Wednesday 40,029 people had been detained since the coup attempt and about half have been formally arrested pending charges.


He also said 4,262 companies and institutions with links to Gulen had been shut. In purges of the military, police, civil service and judiciary, 79,900 people had been removed from public duty, he said in a speech broadcast live on television.


A faction of the military attempted to seize control of power on July 15, killing some 240 people, mostly civilians, and wounding 2,000. About 100 people backing the coup were also killed, according to official estimates.


(Reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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