Nine months on from the July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, authorities continue to detain and arrest people who, they say, are linked to the attempted uprising. According to Turkish state media, the failed bid claimed the lives of 249 people, including 36 alleged coup plotters.
More than 110,000 people have been detained in the post-coup crackdown; nearly 50,000 of them have been arrested on specific charges, according to Turkey’s Ministry of Interior.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, defended the government’s actions in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in September. He said that the government had a responsibility to forestall another coup by arresting those involved in the attempt and suspending those who supported it.
In the immediate aftermath of the coup, many in the international community condemned the purge as a “witch hunt” and expressed concern that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government was using the coup attempt to target opposition and jail dissidents.
ARRESTED AND DETAINED
BREAKDOWN OF THOSE AFFECTED
Those arrested since the attempted coup include police officers, members of the military and civil servants.
THE POLICE
By the end of July 2016, 1,019 members of the police force had been arrested. That number has since grown more than ten-fold.
THE MILITARY
Turkish authorities claim that an estimated 1.5% of the army were involved in the coup attempt. Thousands have been arrested, which has left the military dangerously understaffed, according to a senior officer in the Turkish military.
THE JUDICIARY
Just three days after the attempted coup, 200 top Turkish court officials, including members of the Supreme Court, had been taken into custody despite a lack of evidence that any were involved. That number quickly rose.
CIVIL SERVANTS
Tens of thousands of civil servants were fired or suspended from their positions immediately after the coup attempt. Some of those were also arrested.
THE MEDIA
The widespread crackdown has also extended to the country’s media organizations. Erdogan described the actions last summer as steps required to neutralize the “threat,” but international industry bodies, including Reporters Without Borders, denounced the move.
In a statement published earlier this year, the organization claimed that the passports of hundreds of journalists have been withdrawn and that “censorship of the internet and social networks has reached unparalleled levels.”
