Turkey orders the arrest of 238 people suspected of having links to Fethullah Gulen

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Turkey has ordered the arrest of 238 people as part of an operation targeting those suspected of having ties to the Islamist preacher Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara says was behind the 2016 coup attempt, the state-owned Anatolia News Agency reported.

The operation covered six provinces and is part of a four year campaign against the network of Fethullah Gulen, the cleric based in the United States of America.

Gulen denies any connection to the 2016 attempted coup that killed more than 250 people.

The agency said that 160 people were arrested in the latest police raids ordered by prosecutors in Izmir. The operation also targeted suspects in northern Cyprus, where Turkey has deployed forces from its army.

Among those targeted were 218 army personnel who are still in service, including six with the rank of colonel, three with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and nine with the rank of major.

Since the attempted coup, the authorities have detained 80,000 for trial and have dismissed or suspended 150,000 government workers and army personnel and expelled more than 20,000 from the army.