Turkey issues arrest warrants of 72 university staff related to 2016 coup

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the secularist CHP, told a huge crowd on Sunday Turkey was living under dictatorship and pledged to keep challenging the government after completing a 25-day protest march from Ankara to Istanbul, Reuters added.

Police have so far detained 42 of the staff from Istanbul’s prestigious Bogazici University and Medeniyet University, which is based on the Asian side of the country’s largest city, Anadolu said.

It said eight of the 72 were from Bogazici, including well-known academic Koray Caliskan, who worked in the past as a voluntary adviser to Kilicdaroglu, according to a CHP official.

The other 64 people being detained were from Medeniyet University, 19 of whom were medical faculty professors, Anadolu said. All were suspected users of ByLock, an encrypted messaging app the government says was used by Gulen’s followers, according to Reuters.

About 50,000 people have been arrested and 150,000 state workers including teachers, judges and soldiers, have been suspended in the crackdown under emergency rule which was imposed soon after the attempted military takeover, Reuters added.