More than 35.000 people have been arrested in Turkey for alleged links to Muslim leader Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkish authorities accuse of having organized a failed coup attempt in July, local media reported today.
Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said that the suspects were arrested after the coup attempt failed within a few hours, NTV reported.
Authorities are still looking for 3.907 people, while almost 26.000 people have been released "under judicial supervision," Bozdag said.
Since the coup attempt, a total of 82.000 people have been investigated, the Turkish minister said at the conference of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Afyonkarahisar, in the west of Turkey.
Tens of thousands of people in the military, judiciary, police and education have been suspended, fired or detained for alleged links to the July 15 coup attempt, which Turkish authorities say was organized by Gulen and his Hizmet movement.
The unprecedented purge drew sharp condemnation from Turkey's Western allies, including the European Union.
Bonus video:
