Turkish authorities have arrested 24 suspects and placed 26 others under judicial supervision over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, Turkish media reported.
Investigators allege that those targeted were involved in “rebuilding” the Gülen network within Turkey’s Ministry of Education. Prosecutors say the suspects maintained ties through organizational meetings and charity events while recruiting new members.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations revealed in 2013 implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan as well as some of his family members and inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and a conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan began to target the movement’s members. He designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016 and intensified the crackdown on it following an abortive putsch in July of the same year that he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
The suspects were among 51 detained in a July 15 operation carried out across 15 provinces. Prosecutors had issued detention warrants for 63 people, but police later determined that five had fled the country.
In addition to the thousands who were jailed, scores of other Gülen movement followers had to flee Turkey to avoid the government crackdown.
According to the latest figures from the Justice Ministry, more than 126,000 people have been convicted for alleged links to the movement since 2016, with 11,085 still in prison. Legal proceedings are ongoing for over 24,000 individuals, while another 58,000 remain under active investigation nearly a decade later.
