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Seven former student dormitory managers in Turkey have been jailed for 10 years each over their alleged links to a banned political organisation.

An eighth student accommodation warden was also sentenced to seven and a half years by the court in Kirsehir, in central Turkey, over alleged membership of the banned G¨¹lenist movement.

All of the defendants deny the charges, saying they worked at the now-closed halls of residences to earn a living, according to the website, which details prosecutions of alleged followers of the US-based preacher Fethullah G¨¹len, who is blamed by president Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the failed coup of July 2016.

The jailing of eight dormitory staff last week comes as a further 809 people were arrested over their links to the?G¨¹len movement between 2 and 9 October, said.

More than 126,000 people have been detained and 55,000 arrested over ties to the movement since the summer of 2016, the site has reported. Almost 2,100 schools, dormitories and universities have been shut down since that time, while 8,693 academics have lost their jobs, it added.

Relations between the US and Turkey have soured in recent months over the jailing of dozens of US citizens, including a Nasa scientist, over alleged ties to the?G¨¹lenist movement.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com