Turkey issues arrest warrants for 100 former police officers

Riot police officers detain protesters in Ankara on September 14, 2017, during the trial of two Turkish teachers who went on hunger strike over their dismissal under a government decree following last year's failed coup. (Photo by AFP)

Turkey has issued arrest warrants for 100 former police officers as part of the government’s widening crackdown following last year’s attempted coup.

So far, 63 of the former officers have been detained pursuant to the arrest warrants, which were issued on Saturday, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Security forces are searching for the suspects in 19 Turkish provinces, the report said.

The suspects are believed to be users of ByLock, an encrypted messaging app which Ankara says was used by the network of the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the government accuses of having orchestrated the July 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an allegation that the self-exiled opposition leader vehemently denies.

Turkish riot police try to disperse protesters during a demonstration in Ankara on August 23, 2017, against the detention of two Turkish teachers who went on hunger strike over their dismissal under a government decree following last year's failed coup. (Photo by AFP)

Turkey has called on the US to extradite Gulen, but the demand has not been taken heed of.

Turkey, which remains in a state of emergency since the coup, has been engaged in suppressing the media and opposition groups suspected to have played a role in the failed coup.

On Tuesday, Turkish police launched an operation across seven provinces to arrest 70 military personnel over their alleged links to Gulen.

Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, policemen, teachers, and civil servants and has arrested nearly 50,000 others in the post-coup crackdown.

Many rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have denounced Ankara’s heavy clampdown on perceived putschists.