Turkish authorities have detained journalists, a politician and a pollster and issued arrest warrants for another 105 people over suspected links to a US-based Islamic cleric blamed for a failed coup on July 15.
Opposition politicians warned the latest wave of arrests may target government critics with no clear links to the religious movement led by Fethullah Gulen, a preacher accused by Turkey of masterminding the abortive putsch. He denies any involvement.
Three journalists working for the nationalist Yenicag newspaper were detained at their homes on Wednesday and were being held at a sports hall in Ankara, the daily said on its website, describing the men as critics of the Gulen movement.
Turan Yaldir, a former lawmaker from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), was detained in Ankara on similar charges, Yenicag also reported.
"Nationalists will not forget those who are doing this merely to sideline political opponents," Meral Aksener, a senior MHP figure, said in a statement on Twitter. Aksener this year mounted a challenge to the MHP's veteran leader but has faced legal stumbling blocks and could face expulsion from the party.
The chief prosecutor's office in Ankara launched an investigation into 105 suspected leaders of cells in 17 provinces said to be responsible for military personnel in what authorities have dubbed the "Gulenist Terrorist Organisation" (FETO), the state-run Anadolu Agency said.
Authorities have already detained tens of thousands of people over alleged links with Gulen, whose religious movement publicly espouses interfaith dialogue and education, and have made rooting out Gulen's followers their top priority.
The crackdown has alarmed Western allies and rights groups who fear a witch-hunt.
