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When Bozdag was asked about the crackdown inside Turkey following the coup, he said the government “purge” or “cleansing” of the opposition is not necessarily over. He said that no journalists inside Turkey are being arrested simply for doing their jobs. Some of them are in prison for committing murder, he said, mentioning one man who is being detained for bombing a police station.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Turkey has closed more than 100 news outlets since the coup and has raided and shut the offices of two newspapers, and detained over 100 journalists and media workers.

Bozdag also denied allegations that prisoners are being tortured, saying their lawyers are welcome to make those claims publicly.

Gulen has led a mostly reclusive life in the U.S., where he's based at the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center, a compound located in the Poconos region of Pennsylvania. He has denied any involvement in the attempted coup and blamed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, suggesting that it could have been “staged” by the government.

Bozdag was firm that this diplomatic rift will not get in the way of the U.S. and Turkish alliance against ISIS. But it’s clear, months after the attempted coup, Turkey has not forgotten about Gulen.

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