Turkish intelligence agency arrests 80 people in 18 countries

Turkish coup suspects arrested in 2016. Photo: AP.

Turkish intelligence has arrested at least 80 people from several countries in an effort to hunt down suspects linked to the 2016 coup attempt,Washington Postrecently quoted a senior official in Ankara.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister of TürkiyeBekir Bozdag, the country's spies have launched operations in 18 countries to search for members of the movement of cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara accuses of being behind the failed coup. However, he did not reveal the names of the countries where Türkiye has launched the operation andIdentities of 80 suspects.

It is unclear what campaigns he has been involved in.Bozdag mentioned arrests or deportations, as well as whether Turkish agents cooperated with local authorities. Human rights organizations and media have said that Sudan and Pakistan cooperated with Türkiye in arresting and deporting Gulen supporters.

The statement was made a week afterKosovo Prime Minister said there is6 Turkish citizens were secretly arrested and taken out of the country. Kosovo's prime minister has fired several police officials for not being informed about this.Bozdag said this was not the last manhunt by Turkish intelligence.

"We have attacked the Feto terrorist organization, both domestically and internationally. What happened in Kosovo was a great success but it was only one of the arrests. Not all operations are publicized," he said.Bozdag said, referring to another name for the organization believed to be run by cleric Gulen.

Domestically, Türkiye has arrested tens of thousands of people and fired more than 100,000 civil servants over suspected involvement in the coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Türkiye has asked the United States to extradite Mr Gulen, who lives in the United States, but Washington says there is not enough evidence to charge him..