Police in Turkey have arrested at least 26 more people on Thursday in connection with an ongoing investigation into an alleged coup plot by secularists to topple the country's Islamic-rooted government, said officials and local media reports.
Those arrested on Thursday included a journalist, a union leader and several military and police officials, they said, adding that the arrests were made in a wave of simultaneous raids conducted across the country.
Earlier in the month, Turkish police had detained 30 others, including several former high-ranking military officials, in connection with the investigation into the alleged coup plot.
Also, eighty-six people are already on trial since October for plotting to topple Turkey's Islamic oriented government. They are accused of being members of the Ergenekon group, a shadowy right-wing organization fighting to bring secularism to Islamic Turkey.
The group is accused of planning a series of assassinations and bombings in order to prompt the military to seize control of the country, and include high-ranking military officers, left-wing politicians, scientists, academics and journalists.
All those arrested have denied having any links to the alleged coup plot, and allege that their arrests were a part of a larger plot by the ruling AK party to silence its secular critics.
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