More mass arrests in Turkey as police raid Istanbul law courts

In a crackdown since the abortive coup, more than 76,000 civil servants, judges and security force members have been suspended and almost 5,000 dismissed, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday.

As part of the coup investigation, police also searched offices at the main courthouse on the Asian side of Istanbul on Wednesday as they raided the complex with detention warrants for 83 judicial personnel, Anadolu reported.

Fethullah Gulen at his home in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania on July 29.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkey’s state-run news agency says police have launched simultaneous raids on 44 companies suspected of providing financial support to US -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen’s movement. “But, my valuable citizens, we won’t act in the spirit of vengeance”, Yildirim said during his weekly address to his ruling party’s legislators.

Such a penalty could be imposed on Gulen as well, who is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as a parallel state.

Ankara claims it has sent several documents to the United States which it claims proves that Gulen was involved in the coup.

“Those responsible for the blood of our martyrs will be brought to account”.

Meanwhile, Turkey made a formal request to Greece for the extradition of eight Turkish officers who fled to the neighboring country after last month’s attempted coup, the state-run news agency reported Tuesday.

Before the failed coup, in which more than 240 people were killed, the authorities had already seized Islamic lender Bank Asya, taken over or closed several media companies and detained businessmen on allegations of funding the cleric’s movement.