Turkey Detains Top Gulen Aide after Coup Attempt

Halis Hanci, described as Gulen's right-hand man, apparently entered Turkey two days before the abortive coup, a presidency official told reporters late on Saturday.

Earlier on Saturday, Turkish authorities also detained a nephew of Gulen in connection to the coup attempt.

Muhammed Sait Gulen was detained in the northeastern city of Erzurum and will be brought to the capital Ankara for questioning, Al Jazeera reported.
Among possible charges that could be brought against him is membership of a "terrorist" organization.

Pennsylvania-based Gulen is accused of "masterminding" the July 15 attempt to topple the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan through his movement - a claim he strongly denies. Turkey is seeking Gulen's extradition from the US.

Tens of thousands of people have been detained, sacked or suspended in the wake of the failed coup, as the government vowed to "cleanse" the civil service from Gulen supporters.

Some 37,500 civil servants and police officers have so far been suspended, including many from the education ministry.

The number of people detained has surpassed 10,000 while more than 4,000 of those have been arrested. More than 7,000 of those detained are soldiers, including at least 120 generals.

The rapid pace of arrests since the coup attempt has worried many of Turkey's Western allies, who say they see the country going down an increasingly authoritarian road.

Earlier on Saturday, Erdogan issued a decree to close 2,341 institutions - including schools, charities, unions and medical centers - in the wake of the failed coup.

The decree, which local media noted as being the first taken under the powers of the recently-declared state of emergency, also extends the legal time a person can be detained to 30 days.

Also on Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said authorities would also disband the elite presidential guard after detaining almost 300 of its members in the wake of the failed coup.

"There will no longer be a presidential guard, there is no purpose, there is no need," Yildirim said, speaking to A Haber channel.

The presidential guard is a regiment numbering up to 2,500 people, but at least 283 of its members had been detained after the attempted coup.