European Court condemns Turkey over Post-coup arrests

Fethullah Gülen, the Turkish cleric in self-imposed exile in the US, who has been accused of masterminding the Turkish coup attempt of July 2016

The European Court of Human Rights, on Tuesday, ruled that Turkey had acted unlawfully by arresting over 400 judges and prosecutors after a failed 2016 coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, AFP reports.

In 2016, the Turkish military attempted to overthrow the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Whilst the coup was unsuccessful, it was the bloodiest in Turkey’s history and its impact can still be felt strongly in the country, a year on.

The Turkish government has been arresting civil servants who have relations with US-based Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen.

In March, Turkish security forces also arrested 203 soldiers in nationwide operations over their alleged links to US-based Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara says was behind the 2016 attempted coup.

READ: US rejects Turkey’s accusations of coup attempt in 2016

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