Turkey arrests and detains more than 1000 in latest anti terror raids

Over the last week, Turkish authorities say it has detained about 1,098 people suspected to have links to militant groups or last year's failed coup attempt, the interior ministry said on Monday. 

The interior ministry in a statement, said 831 of those arrested were detained for suspected ties to the US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara blames for orchestrating an attempted failed coup on July, 15, 2016, an accusation Gulen denies any involvement.

The statement said another 213 of those arrested were suspected of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has carried out a three-decade insurgency against the government and is considered a terrorist organisation by the United States, Turkey and Europe.

Forty-six people were detained over alleged links to Islamic State, while eight more were held for suspected ties to "leftist terrorist groups", the ministry said.

Since coup, Turkey has arrested more than 50,000 people and sacked or suspended more than 150,000 in the military, civil service and private sector as part of a sweeping crackdown that has worried rights groups and some Western countries.

According to the Turkish government, the purges were justified by the gravity of the threats it was facing.