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Turkey's elite get lenient treatment in post-coup probes

The apparent leniency accorded to figures linked to the ruling Justice and Development Party in Turkey’s post-coup investigations points to double standards.
Turkish riot police detain a protester during a demonstration against the arrest by Turkish authorities of an academic and a teacher who have been on a hunger strike, in Ankara, on May 23, 2017.
Turkish authorities detained an academic and a teacher in Ankara who have been on a hunger strike for over two months in protest against their dismissal in the purge that followed last year's failed coup, media reported on May 22. Nuriye Gulmen and Semih Ozakca were sacked under the state of emergency imposed after
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Turkey has been under a state of emergency since the abortive coup attempt on July 15, 2016. During this period, 150,000 people have been arrested and 50,000 remain behind bars, including journalists, academics, students, public servants and even shopkeepers. Absent from this long list of alleged supporters of Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric accused of masterminding the putsch, are political figures who made no secret of their sympathy for Gulen in the past. This has long stirred controversy and sparked accusations that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is protecting its own.

In September 2016, two months after the coup attempt, the arrest of businessman Omer Kavurmaci — the son-in-law of Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas — led many to believe that the operations would extend to political quarters, since the Topbas family’s sympathy for Gulen was no secret. The expectations, however, did not materialize. Moreover, the judiciary made a surprise decision in May 2017 to release Kavurmaci while pending trial, on the grounds he suffers from epilepsy and sleep apnea.

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