Turkey arrests 1,000 people as 'post-coup' purge continues

Ankara - Turkish authorities arrested another one thousand people on Wednesday over suspected links with exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, the archenemy of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

It is the latest in a massive purge targeting civil servants since a failed coup nine months ago, which Turkey blames on Gulen supporters. In the wake of the July coup attempt, authorities have arrested more than 40,000 people – including soldiers, police, teachers – and sacked or suspended 120,000 more.

The latest roundup was said to have targeted the police force and was one of the biggest in recent months.

This latest crackdown comes just a day after a top human rights body, the Council of Europe, put Turkey on a watchlist following a referendum earlier this month, giving Erdogan sweeping new powers.

The operation was carried out simultaneously in 72 provinces, announced Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu. He added that 1,009 people suspected of being ''imams'' - involved in the coordination of the organization - had been detained. The suspects, he said, ''had infiltrated the police'' and ''tried to lead it from outside by forming an alternative structure.'' Soylu said that the operation was ''an important step'' towards dismantling the alleged network under Gulen. Since a failed coup attempt on July 15 last year, over 47,000 people have been arrested in Turkey due to alleged links to the network including at least 10,700 police and 7,400 soldiers.