Turkish authorities have requested information from their counterparts in 162 countries about the 7,990 companies that have ties with the businesses investigated over post-coup terror charges, pro-government Sabah newspaper said Wednesday.
The investigation targeted 140 Turkish companies, charged of having links with the Gülen movement, which is accused by Turkish government to have masterminded the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
Information requests have been sent to Interpol officials in 162 countries as of May 2, 2017, Sabah said adding that 67 countries have complied with the request and shared information so far.
Turkey sought details about business fields, criminal records, addresses and personal information about executives of those 7,990 companies.
A security source told Reuters late last month that Turkey named more than 680 German companies including Daimler and BASF in a list it has sent to German authorities over links to terrorism. Turkish government denied the existence of such a list, and some cabinet ministers met with representatives from German firms to reassure them. Sabah reported that 67 countries have, so far, found Turkey’s request legitimate except for Germany.
At home, Turkey has confiscated 966 companies with assets of $11 billion over links to the movement so far. Meanwhile more than 120,000 people were detained over ties to the Gülen movement.
Turkey survived a controversial military coup attempt on July 15 that killed 249 people. Immediately after the putsch AKP government along with Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 50,510 people have been arrested and 169,013 have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup. Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since July 15. (SCF with turkeypurge.com)
