Turkey Archives

Iraq bans importing Turkish tomatoes, the decision will not apply to Kurdistan

May 23, 2017 By administrator

HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— In a bid to boost local tomato production, the Iraqi government announced the decision to stop importing tomatoes from Turkey.

“The tomato products of Najef and Karbala have considerably increased and it needs more support to boost the local product,” read a statement from the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.

The statement adds that these two provinces “could meet the domestic demand of [all] the Iraqi provinces as well.”

This decision will not apply to the Kurdistan Region, Rudaw reported.

From Turkey, Iraq according to government statistics had imported tomatoes valued at $98.5 million in 2014, $82.8 million in 2015 and $88 million in 2016.

Iraq is the second country after Russia which decided to halt tomato regional imports from Turkey.

Turkey is the fourth largest tomato exporter in the world fulfilling 6.9 percent of global demand, according Turkish Agricultural Chambers Union (TZOB).

Following the Russian ban, Turkish farmers had sought out alternative markets, mainly in Iraq, Belarus, Georgia and Saudi Arabia, the TZOB said in a statement in March.

Turkey seeks more active political role in South Caucasus – Armenian historian

May 23, 2017 By administrator

With its plans to hold joint military drills in the South Caucasus, Turkey is trying to be politically more active in the region, an Armenian historian and orientalist said today, commenting on the recent developments.
“Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia are conducting joint military exercises in June and September. The trilateral format raises concern as the three countries’ cooperation has extended beyond the economic domain, developing into a political and even military cooperation,” Ruben Safrastyan, the director of National Academy’s Institute of Oriental Studies, told reporters in Yerevan.

Meantime warned of imminent hazards to Armenia, highlighting possible attempts to isolate the country. In his words, the cooperation will change also the regional balance, increasing Azerbaijan and Georgia’s advantages under Turkey’s support.
Safrastyan attributed Turkey’s active policies to the country’s deteriorated relations with the US.
“At meetings with the United States, Turkey raises such issues as the problem of Kurds or the extradition of [Fetullah] Gulen. Yet, we know that the most recent meeting between [Presidents Recept Tayyip] Erdogan and [Donald] Trump bore largely a formal character as it lasted only 20 minutes. Also, the US armed forces have been recently active on the Turkish-Syrian border, which is yet another blow to Turkey. The Turkey-US relations deteriorated further after the delegation led by Erdogan beat peaceful protestors [in Washington],” he noted.
Safrastyan said he thinks that Turkey is now trying to raise its value for the US, considering the country an important partner.
Addressing the recent developments surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, he praised the OSCE Minsk Group’s recent statement as an attempt to “more objectively evaluate the situation”. “That’s a new trend, a new phenomenon so to speak. I think our diplomacy must do everything possible to maintain and deepen it further,” he added.

Armenian Assembly renews calls for investigation into Turkey’s influence in US

May 19, 2017 By administrator

Michael Flynn's opposition in concert with Turkey against a U.S. military operation WASHINGTON, D.C. – With the latest revelations regarding Lieutenant General Michael Flynn’s opposition in concert with Turkey against a U.S. military operation that had been planned for months, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) renewed its call for a thorough investigation of Turkey’s surreptitious influence over U.S. officials to the detriment of U.S. national security.

Today, the Assembly sent letters to the Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC), Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA), House Intelligence Chairman David Nunes (R-CA), and Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA) highlighting key concerns on this matter.

“Time and time again, we have seen Turkey’s corrosive attempts to influence U.S. policy. Given the aforementioned issues, we respectfully renew our request for a thorough investigation of Turkish activities that compromise America’s national security and democratic institutions,” Assembly Co-Chairs Anthony Barsamian and Van Krikorian said.

Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. stated: “It is even more troublesome that [Flynn] failed to disclose his actions and that he may have compromised our efforts to defeat ISIS in order to please his former client. With Mr. Flynn’s willingness to conceal relationships with foreign powers, we must investigate if there are other interactions that have yet to be revealed.”

According to a report in McClatchy Washington Bureau, “Flynn’s rejection of a military operation that had been months in the making raises questions about what other key decisions he might have influenced…”

This new revelation follows Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s November 8th op-ed in The Hill wherein Flynn argued that “we need to see the world from Turkey’s perspective.” Flynn was paid over $500,000 for his work on behalf of Turkey according to his recent FARA filing, which he failed to disclose until he was caught.

News about Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn comes just after a brutal attack by Turkish bodyguards against those peacefully protesting in front of the Turkish Ambassador’s residence.

U.S. Senator John McCain, calls for removal of Turkey’s U.S. ambassador

May 18, 2017 By administrator

Senator John McCain speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., May 10, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

U.S. Senator John McCain, one of the leading foreign policy voices in Congress, on Thursday urged the expulsion of Turkey’s U.S. ambassador after violence erupted between protesters and Turkish security personnel during President Tayyip Erdogan’s recent visit.

“We should throw their ambassador the hell out of the United States of America … This kind of thing cannot go unresponded to diplomatically,” McCain, the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told MSNBC in an interview on Thursday, adding that legal action could also be pursued.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Turkish Imam Gulen charter school abuse in US subject of new expose

May 15, 2017 By administrator

Lawyer Robert Amsterdam in the middle says book detailing Gulen movement school fraud and abuse in the US due out this July

Report By Anatolia news, We have to emphasize here that Anatolia also is piece-mouth of Erdogan

Lawyer Robert Amsterdam says book detailing Turkish imam Gulen school fraud and abuse in the US due out this July,

NEW YORK

The way the group blamed for last year’s coup bid in Turkey also abuses and exploits the U.S. charter school system is the subject of a new book-length expose.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, lawyer Robert Amsterdam said the book about the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its ringleader Fetullah Gulen, called the “Empire of Deceit,” should come out this summer.

FETO and the U.S.-based Gulen are accused by Turkey of being behind the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which martyred 249 people and left some 2,200 injured. It is also accused of infiltrating educational and other institutions both in Turkey and worldwide for its own ends, including subverting the state.

Amsterdam’s book is set to detail how FETO has exploited the U.S. charter school system to illegally funnel money to its leadership, fraudulently provide jobs to its followers, and discriminate against students.

“The story of Gulen in America, it will be a really shocking expose of Gulen’s abuse of the American charter school system, and the American taxpayer. It is the first of a series of books we’re going to be putting out about Gulen,” said Amsterdam, the founding partner of Amsterdam & Partners, a law firm investigating the Gulen’s movement’s activities.

“I am the writer, along with my staff. Many of us want to remain anonymous because many of us have been threatened, including myself. We’re negotiating with the publisher because we’re still just finishing the book and it’s only the first volume and our hope [for publication] is July,” he added.

“We have come to believe that the Gulen’s organization is a major security threat to mankind, not just the U.S. or Turkey,” he said, adding that the law firm’s investigation took it to 26 of the 50 U.S. states.

“It’s really quite shocking, the level to which the Gulenists have managed to exploit the American taxpayers, engaged in systematic criminal activity,” Amsterdam explained. “It is almost beyond the imagination to believe that a foreign organization could penetrate the U.S. this way.”

‘No limit to what Gulen could do’

Amsterdam said that Gulen’s movement controls around 70,000 students in 162 U.S. charter schools across the United States through front companies.

“There’s no limit to what Gulen could do in the U.S. especially under [former] President [Barack] Obama. Gulen’s political donations — he donates everywhere, but he had a real leaning to Obama and the Democrats, now he’s hiring every Republican,” he said.

According to Amsterdam & Partners’ website, the FETO-affiliated Harmony Public Schools in Texas has engaged in widespread abuse of the U.S.’ H1B visa program, misappropriation of public funds, and discrimination against certain students and families.

According to a fraud complaint the law firm filed with the Texas Education Agency on July 11, 2016 — just days before the defeated coup — Harmony, financed by over $250 million in U.S. federal and state tax money annually, hired a firm called Charter School Solutions (CSS) for $44 million to manage its buildings and properties.

But the complaint alleges that CSS, far from being an independent company, was actually managed by a Harmony employee.

“For the purpose of new buildings to be rented by Harmony schools, an additional $18.4 million was paid to CSS,” said the law firm’s statement, calling the financial malfeasance “shocking”.

Amsterdam & Partners filed a formal complaint in May 2016 against Harmony, urging Texas to conduct a full investigation based on a widespread pattern of fraud, discrimination, and abuse in the Harmony network.

According to the law firm, Harmony operates seven charter school districts serving 46 charter campuses in Texas and has links to FETO.

FETO is headed by Gulen, who runs a network of schools and commercial enterprises around the globe, including Harmony in Texas.

In the months since the coup, Turkey has been trying to root out FETO supporters based in Turkey, as well as encourage governments worldwide to do the same.

Turkey has also submitted extradition documents to Washington, pressing for Gulen’s return to Turkey to face justice for organizing the coup and other offenses.

*Reporting by Betul Yuruk and Mustafa Keles; Writing by Satuk Bugra Kutlugun.

Source: http://aa.com.tr/en/americas/feto-charter-school-abuse-in-us-subject-of-new-expose/816545

What’s behind curious gold traffic between Turkey and UAE?

May 12, 2017 By administrator

By Zülfikar Doğan

ANKARA, Turkey — While Turkey’s foreign exchange reserves are melting fast, its gold reserves have increased by 50 tons since the beginning of the year. An intriguing pattern, meanwhile, has emerged in Turkey’s gold trade with the United Arab Emirates, bringing to mind the oil-for-gold scheme with Iran that is still haunting Ankara.

Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, who is accused of being the key figure running the scheme to circumvent US sanctions on the Islamic Republic, was arrested in the United States last year. In March, another high-profile figure — Mehmet Hakan Atilla, deputy president of Turkey’s public bank Halkbank — landed behind bars during a trip to New York on charges of colluding with Zarrab and facilitating his financial transactions.

Now the gold controversy is back on Turkey’s economic agenda yet again. The gold traffic between Turkey and the UAE is especially striking, with export and import figures raising myriad questions.

In times of economic strain, one of the first solutions that Turkish governments propose is to lure the gold that citizens keep “under the mattress” into the economy. Gold, along with foreign exchange, is a popular form of savings in Turkey, seen as a shield against inflation and the depreciation of the national currency.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, who is in charge of the economy, Turkish citizens today are estimated to have gold savings at home, worth relatively close to $100 billion. In early April, Simsek announced plans to issue gold-denominated bonds to draw those savings into the economy.

Some pundits, however, believe that Turks are no longer willing to part with their gold. Nasrullah Ayan, a veteran of Turkey’s financial markets who helped found the Istanbul stock exchange, argues that the under-the-mattress gold savings have been repeatedly exploited with promises of high yields in the past and people have grown mistrustful of the state on this issue.

In December, when the Turkish lira entered freefall against the dollar, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged citizens to prop up the national currency by converting their foreign exchange savings to Turkish liras or gold, blaming the turbulence on malicious foreign forces. Yet few seemed to have heeded his call as no decrease was seen in foreign exchange deposits in banks. Moreover, the foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank have declined, standing at $102.7 billion at the end of April, down from $122 billion in August 2016.

Under international standards, a country’s foreign reserves are required to cover four to six months of imports at least. If the coverage drops to three months, the International Monetary Fund sees this as a serious economic risk or a red alarm. Given that Turkey’s annual imports are worth around $200 billion, its total reserves of $102 billion do not sound a red alarm yet, but are still a warning signal.

The drop in foreign reserves comes at a time when gold trade has picked up, notably with the UAE.

According to the World Gold Council’s latest data, released May 2, Turkey’s official gold reserves have climbed to 427.8 tons, up from 377.1 tons at the end of 2016. As a result, Turkey has moved from 15th to 13th place on the global gold reserve ranking.

The surging gold trade invokes the years of the oil-for-gold trade with Iran. In 2013, Turkey’s gold imports had hit a record high of $15 billion, including $2.8 billion in the first quarter. This year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) puts gold imports at $2.7 billion in the first quarter, almost on par with the corresponding period in 2013. Nearly half of those imports, worth $1.4 billion, came from the UAE. What is even more interesting, Turkey itself exported $1.7 billion worth of gold to the UAE in the same period.

According to the Turkish Gold Miners Association, the country’s record gold imports in 2013 amounted to 302 tons.

In December the same year, corruption and bribery probes rocked the government, implicating Zarrab as well as several ministers, who allegedly helped the businessman in return for kickbacks. The government responded with massive purges in the police and the judiciary, thwarting the probes. In the wake of the scandal, the trade scheme with Iran decelerated and so did Turkey’s gold trade in general. Gold imports fell to 131 tons in 2014 and then to 49 tons in 2015. Last year, however, the imports picked up anew, reaching 106 tons. Now, with the intriguing trade with the UAE, gold imports could well climb back to the 2013 level at the end of the year.

Turkey’s total gold exports were worth $531 million in January, $619 million in February and $740 million in March, according to official foreign trade data. The bulk of those exports were to the UAE — $400 million in January, $581 million in February and $678 million in March. In the same quarter, Turkey’s gold imports from the UAE amounted to $507 million in February and $692 million in March. The proximity in the import and export numbers can hardly escape attention, as if the same gold was coming and going between the two countries.

It is worth recalling that the UAE and especially Dubai were an essential element in the oil-for-gold trade between Turkey and Iran, serving as the link via which the gold traveled to the Islamic Republic after the sanctions froze it out of the international banking system.

According to TUIK figures from March, the UAE has become the second biggest buyer of Turkish exports after Germany. Yet why similar shipments of gold are coming and going between the two countries and who gains what from such exchanges requires explanation. One cannot help but wonder whether this curious form of trade may result in another “Zarrab case” or a corruption scandal similar to the one in 2013.

Now the gold controversy is back on Turkey’s economic agenda yet again. The gold traffic between Turkey and the UAE is especially striking, with export and import figures raising myriad questions.

The drop in foreign reserves comes at a time when gold trade has picked up, notably with the UAE.

According to the Turkish Gold Miners Association, the country’s record gold imports in 2013 amounted to 302 tons.

Zülfikar Doğan

Contributor, Turkey Pulse

Zülfikar Doğan began his career in journalism in 1976 at the Yanki news magazine in Ankara. He has worked as a reporter, news editor, representative and columnist at Milliyet, Posta, Aksam, Finansal Forum, Star and Karsi

Woman Journalist In Turkey Traumatized By Abuse And Torture At Police Station

May 12, 2017 By administrator

Journalist Büşra Erdal, as she was detained.

A veteran woman Turkish journalist who remained in nine month long pre-trial detention has been subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment at the police custody after she got re-arrested on trumped-up charges when the court decision to release her was not enforced by the government, resulting in a traumatic experience that her lawyer says she has been unable to cope with.

Hanım Büşra Erdal, a court reporter and a lawyer, was subjected to intrusive naked search at the police station and humiliated by the police officers when she was picked up from the prison cell where she was preparing to walk away after the judges ordered her release from nine-month pre-trial detention. Erdal whose indictment lacks merit for any evidence of violence and terror except her published articles in critical Zaman daily was ordered to be released on March 31 pending trial. Yet, the government intervened in her release amid outcry by pro-government circles including propagandist journalists who wanted her to remain in jail indefinitely. As a result, another arrest warrant was issued against her on the same day before she managed to make one step outside the walls of the prison.

As if crushing her hopes to be free is not enough, Erdal was taken to the police station and detained there for a day before she was placed into the prison again. Despite she did not present any risk of possessing a contraband or a weapon as she was directly transferred from her prison cell, police forced her to get naked in the detention, subjected her to intrusive search and humiliated her dignity for hours as part of an unlawful punishment that amounted a torture. Erdal was traumatized with this terrible experience according to her lawyer who gave a statement to that effect in the courtroom.

Ümit Kardaş, the lawyer of the journalist, told the court on April 27 hearing that “my client was subjected to the inhuman treatment. She won her freedom but put back to jail again. A month passed since her terrible ordeal in police station but she has not covered from that trauma yet.” While the lawyer is defending her in the courtroom, Erdal burst into tears. “You could say this was a torture and abuse,” Kardaş emphasized.

He said the naked search is allowed only if it the circumstances warrant such practice. “She is a journalist and was picked up from the prison. She was routinely going through checks and searches in the prison already. By forcibly removing her clothes in police detention, the government wanted to humiliate and abuse her,” Kardaş explained. He said the independence of the judges were also violated as they were dismissed right after the release decision. “The logic here is clear: these people won’t get released no matter what,” he alimented.

source: http://stockholmcf.org/woman-journalist-in-turkey-traumatized-by-abuse-and-torture-at-police-station/

Will US-Kurdish deal force Turkey back to PKK negotiation table?

May 12, 2017 By administrator

Kurdish fighters from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) stand near US military vehicles in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria, April 29, 2017. (photo by REUTERS/Rodi Said)

By Pinar Tremblay,

Although the United States has signaled its increasing support for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) for the last few years, US President Donald Trump’s decision to arm the Kurdish forces in Syria for the battle against the Islamic State came as a shock to the Turkish government. Turkey considers the YPG and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to be part of one common terror group, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been throwing tantrums over symbols of US support for the YPG.

Turkey’s involvement in the Syrian conflict for the last six years has been mind-boggling. To put it in the simplest of terms: It has lacked a proper strategy. One cannot pinpoint what the Turkish goals were in Syria. The Turks wanted to set the rules of the game in Syria. However, while struggling to adjust their reactive policies against all forces involved, they gained more enemies and incurred unknown amounts of financial loss throughout the process. Turkey wanted the United States to be involved, to establish no-fly zones, and Erdogan cheered each and every time the US president spoke against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In 2012 for example, Turkey demanded that Assad grant more rights and freedoms to the Kurds, but today different sections of Kurds in compartmentalized parts of Syria receive logistics support from Iran, Russia and the United States, and the Turks are not happy. So Turkey demands to send its troops, volunteering more of its own men to die. The payback for the last six years’ mistakes in Syria is due now with interest.

Prior to Erdogan’s much anticipated May 16 visit to Washington, a high-level Turkish delegation (Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, director of national intelligence Hakan Fidan and Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar) conducted talks with senior US officials. Despite all efforts of the pro-AKP lackeys to play up Trump’s brief greeting to the delegation, the mood was somber. The final blow came with the official news of the US military support for the Kurds. The Turkish government oscillated between ignoring the news and blaming it on the Barack Obama administration, hoping to ride the Trump administration’s anti-Obama tide. But it is too late for that.

The United States decided to arm the Kurds for several reasons, but for the Turkish side, two reasons are the most daunting: The Turkish Armed Forces in Syria are perceived as less competent than the Kurdish groups, and Erdogan is losing power and credibility. Given modern Turkish history, Erdogan’s biggest fear for decades has been a potential military coup. Different legal cases against high-ranking, active-duty officers have crippled the military’s morale, and the July 15 attempted coup has demoralized and structurally weakened the armed forces. Its operations in Syria have not produced impressive results, and the United States’ choice to support the Kurds proves the point.

Next is the undeniable Erdogan problem. Erdogan rushed into the referendum that grants him unprecedented power. Ironically, the process that expanded his powers legally has indeed crippled his legitimacy. Despite all the victory speeches, the AKP’s top leadership can see that Erdogan is in a deep crisis. For the first time in the last 15 years, Erdogan has lost all major cities, including the most important one: Istanbul. Plus Erdogan is losing the young urban vote. This issue is a top priority in Erdogan’s mind.

With fast diminishing support at home, Erdogan needs Trump’s endorsement more than ever. That is precisely why Erdogan’s reaction to the news was measured, cool-headed and calm. He said on May 12, “It is my sincere wish that before I arrive in the US, the decision [to arm the Kurdish forces] will be changed. I will share our concerns with Trump.” However, not only is Turkey’s credibility in the international arena tarnished, but Erdogan’s bargaining power is at its lowest. Erdogan cannot afford to confront Trump, and the United States knows well how weak the Turkish hand is at this stage in the game. Erdogan’s dubious victory may enable him to grab all possible powers domestically, but in the international realm, he is seen as a leader whose dependence on foreign powers is increasing at a menacing pace. That is the dilemma of a dictatorship in the developing world: The stronger you become domestically, the more vulnerable you are internationally.

Despite a few critical voices in Turkey asking Erdogan not to visit Washington, the Islamists and ultra-nationalists have opted to remain quiet. Now, much will depend on how Erdogan is received in the United States. If there are photo-ops where Trump appears as a friend of Erdogan, this Kurdish fiasco can go down more smoothly for Erdogan. Al-Monitor’s talks with senior Turkish bureaucrats indicate that the best scenario for the Erdogan-Trump relationship will be one similar to the Putin-Erdogan relationship, where the details of the deals are not leaked to the press.

Next is the question of what Turkey will do. Two options are being discussed. One is the spoiler role, where Turkey continues to attack PKK and YPG bases in self-defense. This is not a sustainable policy, not only because Turkey lacks the power but mostly due to the dictatorship dilemma explained above.

So the more likely possibility is reopening the peace talks with the PKK. The backdoor channels have always been in the works to convince Turkey to come back to the negotiation table with the Kurds. However, Turkish prerequisites to reopen the talks have simply been too high for the Kurds to meet. Now, with each blow sustained as a consequence of years of unsuccessful policies, the Turks will be going back to talks with the PKK with a much weaker hand. Erdogan has opted to form alliances with Turkish Hezbollah (Huda-Par, a pro-Kurdish Sunni Party), which is adamantly against the PKK, and the Gray Wolves, who have held him in check against a rapprochement with the Kurds. But now that the referendum is over, who can hold Erdogan back?

As a savvy leader, Erdogan will soon start preparing another road map and initiate peace talks with the PKK. Potential collateral damage to this path may be a few senior bureaucrats who had their hearts and minds set on the taking down of prominent PKK leaders and ending the PKK threat completely. A few forced departures from senior AKP ranks are likely to happen, which will eventually isolate Erdogan further in his policy cocoon.

Yet Erdogan knows all too well that the Kurdish problem cannot be solved exclusively in military terms. Hence, he was the one who haphazardly announced the peace process with the Kurds in 2012. On March 21, 2013, all pro-AKP figures were singing Kurdish songs, rejoicing about the peace with the PKK with the slogan “Mothers should not shed any more tears.” Red, green and yellow were the colors in fashion. And in the same unexpected fashion, the process ended in 2015, and now calling for peace in Turkey has become a criminal act.

This is all likely to change rather soon. This time Turkey has lost significant bargaining power, while the Kurds seem to have played a shrewd game of balancing the interests and sensitivities of Iran, Russia and the United States. Watching and listening to Turkish pundits and senior bureaucrats, one cannot help but see that the alternative news reporting and spinning the reality for public opinion has done permanent damage to Turkish policymakers. They have come to believe their own alternative truths. However, the accumulated bills from six years of reckless policies in Syria are soon to be collected without further delay from Turkey.

Tremblay is a columnist for Al-Monitor’s Turkey Pulse and a visiting scholar of political science at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She is a columnist for Turkish news outlet T24. Her articles have appeared in Time, New

Army general: Armenia-Russia joint troops are ready to neutralize potential threat from Turkey

May 6, 2017 By administrator

YEREVAN. – The Armenian-Russian joint troops stand ready to neutralize a potential threat from the Turkish side.

General Andranik Makaryan, commander of the join unit of the these troops, noted the above-said at a press conference on Saturday.

Commenting on Turkey’s statements with respect to setting up a military base in Azerbaijan, the general said, however, that such Turkish threats should not be surprising.

“If there will be a threat from that side, we will stand in the way of the enemy,” added Makaryan. “All this is recorded in the documents.”

Turkey issues detention warrants for 23 judges and prosecutors

May 6, 2017 By administrator

Turkey‘s state-run news agency says detention warrants have been issued for 23 judges and prosecutors who have been dismissed from their posts, The Associated Press reports.

Anadolu news agency said Saturday, May 6 the warrants were issued for 17 judges and six prosecutors for “membership in an armed terror organization.” They are suspected of being followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen who the government says is behind the July 15 coup attempt.

Gulen denies involvement in the coup.

Two judges were detained while working.

The suspects are among the 107 judges and prosecutors dismissed from public service Friday.

Since the declaration of a state of emergency last summer, more than 4,200 judges and prosecutors have been dismissed, an estimated 100,000 sacked from other public posts and more than 47,000 people arrested.