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More soldiers remanded to custody for links to defeated coup

August 11, 2016 at 11:32 am

Markus Ederer (C), Secretary of State to the German Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party’s Istanbul deputy Mustafa Yeneroglu inspect the damaged areas of Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) in Ankara, Turkey on August 08, 2016 after bomb attacks at Turkish parliament during the coup attempt.

Twelve soldiers were remanded in custody late Wednesday for alleged links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), according to court documents obtained by Anadolu Agency.

Anti-terrorism police in Ankara detained the suspects who were sent to the Golbasi court on charges they are part “of a terrorist organization.”

The court ruled the soldiers would be taken to prison.

Golbasi Public Prosecutor’s Office is probing the defeated coup, which martyred at least 240 and left nearly 2,200 injured.

A total of 110 soldiers have so far been jailed as part of the probe, along with three police officers and five civilians.

Ankara has repeatedly said the coup attempt was organized by followers of U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen and his FETO group.

Gulen is also accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of state institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.

Approximately 13,000 members of the military, police, judiciary, as well as civil servants, have been so far detained and 6,000 remanded in custody for alleged links to the terrorist group.

Tens of thousands of suspected Gulenists have been removed from their posts.