Turkish prosecutors seek 2 life sentences for Gulen

Ankara has accused US-based Turkish opposition figure Fethullah Gulen of being behind the failed coup.

The coup began late on July 15 in Turkey, when a faction of the Turkish military blocked Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge and strafed the headquarters of the Turkish intelligence agency and parliament in the capital. People convicted for murder, domestic violence, sexual abuse or crimes against the state are excluded.

A spokesman of the Turkish Police reported this Tuesday on the searches in 44 companies to stop and arrest the managers accused of being related to the Hizmet Movement, led by the opposite clergyman Fethulá Gulen, whom the authorities make responsible for the frustrated coup. “We will bring them to account with justice”, the prime minister said. He insisted it was not a pardon or an amnesty but a conditional release of prisoners. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, has denied the charge and condemned the coup.

Prosecutors in western Turkey have demanded a life sentence for USA -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey accuses of masterminding the failed coup in the country, the state-run news agency reported Tuesday. The government declared a state of emergency and launched a massive crackdown on Gulen’s supporters in the aftermath of the coup, raising concerns among European nations and human rights organizations who have urged restraint.

Some 35,000 people have been detained for questioning and more than 17,000 of them have been formally arrested to face trial, including soldiers, police, judges and journalists.

Turkey issued two decrees under emergency rule on Wednesday in which it dismissed more than 2,000 police officers and hundreds of members of the military and the BTK communication technology authority over last month’s attempted military coup.

“I hope that the arrangement is beneficial to the prisoners, their loved ones, our people and our country”, the minister wrote.