Ankara: Turkey's ruling party on Friday instructed its local branches and party-led municipalities to purge themselves of suspected supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by the government of instigating the country's failed July 15 coup.
Gulen has denied involvement or prior knowledge of the violent coup attempt that left more than 270 people dead.
Still, the Justice and Development Party, founded by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, issued a circular ordering its members to "immediately start efforts to purge those linked to the (Gulen movement) or who gave support to the reprehensible coup," the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The circular also called on local branches to avoid "agitation and gossip" during the purges.
Turkey accuses Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, of masterminding the failed coup attempt by renegade officers in Turkey's military and wants him extradited to Turkey.
It has designated his movement, which runs charities, schools and businesses across the world, as a terrorist organization and has launched a widespread crackdown on suspected members since the failed coup.
The circular was issued hours before Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was to arrive in Turkey, becoming the first foreign head of state to visit since the failed coup. Turkey is also pressing its allies to crackdown on Gulen-linked schools and charities and was expected to ask the Kazakh leader to shut down Gulen-run establishments in his Central Asian nation.
Since the coup attempt, nearly 70,000 people suspected of links to Gulen have been suspended or dismissed from jobs in the civil service, judiciary, education, health care and the military. And about 18,000 people have been detained or arrested, mostly from the military, on suspicion of being involved in the failed putsch.
The crackdown has also expanded to journalists and former employees of Gulen-linked media. On Friday, Anadolu said 12 journalists who used to work for Zaman newspaper were formally arrested pending trial, including columnist Mumtazer Turkone. Six other journalists were jailed pending trial last week.
Turkey on Thursday issued a warrant for Gulen's arrest for ordering the failed coup, a move seen as a prelude to a formal extradition request to the United States.
