Turkey 'Neutralized' Over 2,400 Terrorists In 2018 - Reports

Turkish forces either killed or captured 2,442 terrorists last year, local media reported on Saturday citing the Turkish Defense Ministry

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2019) Turkish forces either killed or captured 2,442 terrorists last year, local media reported on Saturday citing the Turkish Defense Ministry.

Neutralized terrorists include 74 senior members, according to the Anadolu news agency.

Since the 2016 coup attempt, the Turkish Defense Ministry has fired more than 15,000 employees for being linked to the movement of Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, which Ankara refers to as the Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the agency reported.

Ankara accuses the Gulen movement of masterminding the 2016 coup d'etat attempt and has arrested thousands of military personnel, activists, officials, journalists, legal and educational workers over the suspected links to the group. Gulen, who lives in exile in the United States, has denied the accusations.