Erdogan says Turkish judiciary, other state bodies must be 'cleansed of traitors'

IZMIT, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday the judiciary and some other state institutions, including the state scientific agency Tubitak, must still be "cleansed of traitors" following the detention of two dozen opposition journalists and others. Erdogan has been locked in a battle with followers of his erstwhile ally, the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom he accuses of infiltrating state institutions, then trying to topple the government. Gulen denies the accusation. Hundreds of civil servants, including police officers, prosecutors and Tubitak scientists, have been purged over the course of the last year or two as tension has escalated. (Writing by Ayla Jean Yackley; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Kevin Liffey)