Turkish Public Prosecutor's Office orders 294 detained in military probe over alleged coup plotting

Turkish police on Tuesday launched an operation, ordered by the Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office, to arrest 294 military personnel on suspicion of belonging to the brotherhood of exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen, whom the Turkish government accuses of instigating the failed 2016 coup. 

The operation extends to 41 of the country's 81 provinces, the semi-public Anadolu Agency reported. 

The suspects include four colonels, a lieutenant colonel, eight captains and five sergeants. The rest are officers of military schools that were previously closed for alleged links to the Gülenist brotherhood. 

On January 19, 238 Turkish military and civil servants were arrested in another major operation on suspicion of links to the alleged coup plotters. 

Following the failed and controversial attempt, whose top military leaders have never publicly confessed their allegiance to Gülen, the Turkish government launched extensive purges in the state administration and education sector, dismissing more than 130,000 employees and arresting more than 100,000 people. 

Around 50,000 people, the vast majority of them civilians, were remanded in custody, of whom 28,000 were incarcerated last year. 

Last December, a court in Ankara sentenced 333 military personnel and four civilians to life imprisonment for their part in the uprising.