Turkey detains thousands in drive against extremism

Turkey's military authorities said they have detained about 11,000 people in sweeps against political extremists since they seized power last month. The secretary-general of the governing junta said 746 people have been convicted of subversive crimes and 10,800 were either in detention pending investigations or had been charged. The military, he said, still has not rooted out terrorism, but the banning of political activities, stiffening of martial law powers, and the outlawing of often politically motivated strikes have eased the situation considerably.