Turkey Orders Detention of 118 People over Gulen Links

Fethullah Gulen. (AP)
Fethullah Gulen. (AP)
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Turkey Orders Detention of 118 People over Gulen Links

Fethullah Gulen. (AP)
Fethullah Gulen. (AP)

Turkey issued detention warrants for 118 people, mostly members of the military and security forces, suspected of links to the network that Ankara says was behind a 2016 coup attempt, the Istanbul prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.

Authorities have carried out a sustained crackdown on alleged followers of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen since the failed coup in July 2016, when 250 people were killed.

Police still routinely carry out raids on suspects.

Gulen, a former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999. He denies any involvement in the attempted coup.

The prosecutor's office said it issued detention warrants for 42 military and gendarmerie personnel as a result of statements by previously detained people and analyses of pay phone calls. Among them were 24 officers on active duty.

It said it had requested the detention of 76 military, gendarmarie personnel and civilians in a separate operation after determining they had used pay phones to contact members of the network. Seventy-four of those were on active duty.

The detention orders included members of the land, air and marine forces, as well as one colonel and three lieutenants.

Erdogan has for years accused Gulen's supporters of establishing a "parallel state" by infiltrating the police, judiciary, military and other state institutions.

Since the coup attempt, about 80,000 people have been jailed pending trial and some 150,000 civil servants, military personnel and others sacked or suspended from their jobs.

Turkey's Western allies including the European Union as well as rights groups have criticized the scale of the crackdown, while Ankara has defended the measures as a necessary response to the security threat.



Taiwan Begins 5-Day Military Drill with Tanks Patrolling Streets

This picture taken and released by Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) on June 22, 2026 shows a row of armored military vehicles driving along the highway in Taoyuan, Taiwan. (AFP photo / CNA Photo)
This picture taken and released by Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) on June 22, 2026 shows a row of armored military vehicles driving along the highway in Taoyuan, Taiwan. (AFP photo / CNA Photo)
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Taiwan Begins 5-Day Military Drill with Tanks Patrolling Streets

This picture taken and released by Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) on June 22, 2026 shows a row of armored military vehicles driving along the highway in Taoyuan, Taiwan. (AFP photo / CNA Photo)
This picture taken and released by Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) on June 22, 2026 shows a row of armored military vehicles driving along the highway in Taoyuan, Taiwan. (AFP photo / CNA Photo)

Taiwan kicked off a five-day set of military drills on Monday aimed at boosting the island's combat readiness in case of a Chinese military attack.

In the city of Taoyuan, home to the island's largest international airport, tanks drove down city streets and highways, videos and photos of the exercise showed, as armored vehicles from the Army’s 269th Infantry Brigade conducted combat readiness patrols morning.

The Immediate Combat Readiness Exercises are meant to test how rapidly military units can deploy, especially in the face of a possible sudden escalation of Chinese grey-zone warfare. Grey-zone tactics refer to a range of aggressive tactics that vary from navy ship patrols to drone flights, but fall short of direct combat.

The exercises, announced Sunday afternoon, are meant to be realistic, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement, with an emphasis on “real-time, live-fire and on-site."

These exercises are designed to simulate what would happen before enemy forces launched their ships, according to Taiwan's semi-official Central News Agency. The series of exercises could also include impromptu ones in the future, including real-time responses to Chinese military drills.

China's People's Liberation Army sent 23 aircraft towards Taiwan from Sunday into Monday morning, according to Taiwan's defense ministry. That was accompanied by seven navy ships and five other Chinese government ships. China sends war planes, drones and navy ships towards the island on a daily basis.

Taiwan regularly conducts combat readiness drills as it seeks to bolster its defense capabilities amid ongoing military pressure from China, which claims the self-governed island as its own territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring it under its control. Earlier in June, Taiwan fired rockets in China's direction for the first time as part of a military exercise.


EU Chief Hails 'Statesman' Starmer after Resignation

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a press statement on sanctions against Russia at the EU headquarters in Brussels on June 9, 2026. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a press statement on sanctions against Russia at the EU headquarters in Brussels on June 9, 2026. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
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EU Chief Hails 'Statesman' Starmer after Resignation

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a press statement on sanctions against Russia at the EU headquarters in Brussels on June 9, 2026. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a press statement on sanctions against Russia at the EU headquarters in Brussels on June 9, 2026. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Monday praised British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for bolstering "European" security after he announced his resignation.

"It can take many leaders years to grow into the statesman you became in just two years. European and Ukrainian security is stronger because of you. Thank you, dear Keir," the European Commission president posted online.


Leaders of European Powers to Meet for Ukraine Talks

 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks to the press at the European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, Belgium June 19, 2026. (Reuters)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks to the press at the European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, Belgium June 19, 2026. (Reuters)
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Leaders of European Powers to Meet for Ukraine Talks

 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks to the press at the European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, Belgium June 19, 2026. (Reuters)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks to the press at the European Union leaders' summit in Brussels, Belgium June 19, 2026. (Reuters)

The leaders of Europe's top military powers will meet Wednesday in Berlin, Italy said on Monday, as Europe aims to play a bigger role in trying to end the Ukraine war.

The government said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni would attend the meeting with her British, French, German and Polish counterparts.

The announcement came just before British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would resign but remain in office until a new leader is chosen, meaning he could still attend the meeting.

The E5 group was formed in 2024 following increasing calls for European rearmament and to improve coordination to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had said the meeting would take place this week without specifying a date.

At last week's G7 summit attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, leaders agreed to increase supplies of air defense equipment to Ukraine and boost sanctions on Russia.

The G7 leaders also agreed to grant licenses for Ukraine-based companies to produce long-range missiles and air defense systems, a diplomatic source said.

But Zelensky has called for Europe to do more as US efforts to end the fighting have faded.

A European Union official said EU chief Antonio Costa's office had made "brief contacts at diplomatic level" with Moscow aimed at opening communication channels.

But some EU states have been wary about reaching out to Kremlin, with diplomats saying several leaders pushed backed against Costa's efforts at last week's EU summit in Brussels.