Coup Attempt: Turkey seeks arrest of 333 soldiers

Turkish prosecutors have issued detention orders for 333 soldiers over alleged links to an Islamic cleric accused of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016, the state news agency reported on Wednesday.

“Wednesday’s order includes 216 active duty soldiers, 27 civilians who are also among those named,’’ it said.

The private Dogan news agency said seven of the military members were pilots.

It said that the Air Force in particular has been hard hit by purges since the failed putsch.

The government, however, blamed Fethullah Gulen, a cleric living in the U.S., for the abortive coup.

Report says over 50,000 people are in jail due to alleged links to Gulen and 150,000 have lost their jobs.

Gulen denied the charges against him.

Almost daily, the authorities announce detentions of alleged Gulenists, over 16 months after the coup.