UPDATE - Turkish PM: Over 20,000 remanded over FETO links

UPDATES WITH ADDITIONAL QUOTES FROM YILDIRIM

ANKARA (AA) – More than 20,000 people have been remanded in custody since July 15 as part of ongoing probes into the coup attempt, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said late Wednesday.

During an interview aired live on state-owned TRT Haber news channel, Yildirim laid out statistics indicating a wide-ranging investigation in which "40,029 people have been detained, and 20,355 were arrested including police officers, soldiers, judiciary members, local administrators and civilians.”

Yildirim also said a total of 5,187 people are still remanded in custody.

So far, nearly 80,000 civil servants have been suspended from duty, while 5,014 have been dismissed, Yildirim said.

He said a total of 10,000 special operations soldiers would be recruited as well.

"The terms of recruitment are obvious. But the real determiner will be this: They will resist against tough conditions and they must be devoted to their nation," Yildirim said.

The Turkish premier vowed to continue the "cleansing campaign" of Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) members in the public sector in order to prevent potential future coup attempts.

"The judiciary will continue to do its job independently and impartially," Yildirim said, adding that new testimonies reveal new links about the coup attempt, without giving any detail.

Ankara accuses Fetullah Gulen of masterminding the failed coup and has sent the U.S. two official requests for his extradition to face trial.

Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. since 1999 and is also accused of leading FETO.

The coup attempt left 240 martyrs in its wake and nearly 2,200 others injured.