Turkey orders arrest of 110 people over Gulen links -media

Turkish authorities have reportedly issued arrest warrants for 110 workers over alleged links to the cleric Ankara blames for last year’s failed coup. Dogan news agency reported on Friday that those arrested were managers, partners and employees of the conglomerate Kaynak Holding. They’re suspected of ties to the US based cleric Fethullah Gulen, President Erdogan’s archenemy. The operation was focused on Istanbul but spread across 24 provinces. More than 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial over alleged links to Gulen as part of a massive post-coup crackdown that’s drawn international criticism. A further 150,000 people have been sacked or suspended from jobs in the military, public and private sectors. The Turkish government has also taken control of hundreds of firms. Kaynak Holding, which spans across the media, education and tourism sectors, is one of them. In a separate operation centered in Ankara, 38 former employees from schools owned by the Gulen network were arrested on Friday, according to Turkish media. The schools were closed by a decree after the failed coup. The government has dismisses rights groups’ concerns about the crackdown, saying only such a purge could rid Turkey of the threat posed by Gulen’s network, which it says infiltrated public institutions such as the judiciary, army and schools.