Turkey targets ex-airforce staff over alleged coup links

ANKARA: Turkish police on Friday arrested dozens of military personnel in another round of nationwide raids against people with alleged links to the group blamed for the 2016 failed coup, state media reported. Forty-one suspects had been detained by late Friday morning, according to state news agency Anadolu, after the Ankara public prosecutor ordered arrest warrants for 87 former non-commissioned officers in the Turkish airforce. The police operations were launched in 16 provinces across the country including Ankara, Istanbul and the Aegean city of Izmir. Turkish authorities have detained more than 50,000 people over the last two years as part of an investigation into followers of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, while nearly 130,000 public sector workers have been dismissed from their jobs.