Turkish police on Tuesday detained 60 suspects in the latest wave of operations targeting Maydonoz Döner, a popular fast-food chain that was previously put under government control due to alleged links to the Gülen movement, Turkish Minute reported, citing the state-run Anadolu news agency.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said the raids were conducted in eight provinces including İstanbul, İzmir, Bursa and Eskişehir as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged financial support for the Gülen movement. Police detained 60 of the suspects, while three others were determined to be abroad. Detention procedures for those in custody are ongoing, officials said.
The Turkish government accuses Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who died last year, and his followers of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016 and has designated the group as a terrorist organization. The movement strongly denies any involvement.
Alleged financial ties and hidden employment
According to the investigation, former company executives, previously dismissed and replaced by government-appointed trustees through Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), had transferred funds including donations, profit shares and loan payments to individuals affiliated with the Gülen movement. These individuals include former military officers, teachers and public employees dismissed by emergency decrees following the coup attempt, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors also reviewed reports from Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) on 74 branches of the restaurant chain. Investigators found that 29 branches had allegedly employed individuals linked to the Gülen movement through informal arrangements, bypassing official Social Security Institution (SGK) records.
Although they have not been convicted of a crime, or have already served their sentences related to alleged links to Fethullah Gülen, individuals perceived by the Turkish government as followers of the exiled cleric report facing widespread discrimination and blacklisting. Many say they experience a form of “social death,” barred from employment and denied access to a basic means of making a living.
First wave of detentions in February
Maydonoz Döner, which operates more than 400 branches across Turkey, was previously targeted earlier this year. Some 400 people were detained in raids in February and in May targeting the fast-food chain. At least 126 people, including four civil servants, were arrested.
The Turkish Interior Ministry previously said that the broader investigation was initiated by the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office more than 18 months ago. According to MASAK findings released by the police, the company was involved in approximately 220 million Turkish lira (about $6.8 million) in transactions among alleged members of the movement.
Twenty-one of the company’s branches were placed under trusteeship as part of that operation.
Founded in 2018 by businessman Ömer Şeyhin, Maydonoz Döner expanded rapidly to over 400 locations in Turkey and abroad before trustees were appointed to oversee its operations, part of a broader practice of government seizures of companies linked to the Gülen movement.
Şeyhin denied any links to the movement or having any motivation to financially support the movement in his statement to the prosecutors.
Since the failed coup, Turkish authorities have pursued an extensive campaign against suspected Gülen supporters, targeting educators, journalists, civil servants and businesses. More than 700,000 people have been investigated and tens of thousands have been arrested or dismissed from the civil service.
Once praised by the Turkish government for its contributions to education and interfaith dialogue, the Gülen movement has faced relentless pressure amid accusations it was behind not only the coup attempt but also politically sensitive corruption probes in 2013.
A report last year titled “Persecutory Confiscation Amounting to Crimes Against Humanity: Case of the Gülen Group” exposed the vast scale of property confiscations in Turkey targeting the movement, with an estimated value of $50 billion and affecting over 1.5 million people in what the authors call systematic and widespread violations of domestic and international law that amount to “crimes against humanity.”
