Turkey seeks 695 arrests over links to US-based cleric

Turkish prosecutors have issued detention warrants against 695 people suspected of links to the US-based Muslim cleric blamed by Turkey for a failed coup attempt in 2016, state media reported Tuesday.

Anadolu Agency said prosecutors were seeking the arrests of 467 people suspected of cheating in a police promotion examination in 2009. Warrants were also issued against 157 military officers — 101 of them still on active duty — and 71 Justice Ministry personnel.

On July 15, 2016, a group of officers attempted a coup to overthrow Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Some 250 people were killed and more than 2,000 were injured during the failed attempt.

Some 77,000 people have been arrested and around 130,000 others, including military personnel, have been dismissed from state jobs in a crackdown on Gulen's network since the coup.

Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, denies involvement in the coup attempt.