The Turkish Interior Ministry has provided financial rewards close to 20 million liras ($ 3.7 million) to citizens who share information that assists in the detention or killing of those linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Gülen movement, pro-government Yeni Şafak newspaper reported.
A total of 249 people have been rewarded 19,547,000 liras ($ 3.6 million) since Aug. 2015 after providing information to Turkish security forces leading to the arrest or killing of individuals linked to the PKK or Gülen movement, both of which are designated terrorist organisations by Ankara, Yeni Şafak said.
The PKK is an armed group at war in Turkey for Kurdish autonomy for over three decades.
The Gülen movement, led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, is accused of orchestrating the July 2016 coup attempt.
Ankara has intensified a crackdown on both groups following the failed putsch, which claimed the lives of over 300 people and injured 2,100.
There has been an avalanche of phone calls into a government hotline following a reward legislation implemented in Aug 2015, Yeni Şafak said, noting that the ministry has kept the names of the informants strictly confidential.
The ministry is offering a total of 66,900,000 liras ($12.2 million) for 1208 people accused of orchestrating the coup linked to both groups, according to the latest wanted list updated in February, the newspaper said.euronews.