Turkish authorities have detained 97 individuals across the country over the past week as part of a continuing crackdown on the faith-based Gülen movement, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Sunday.
Of those detained 16 were arrested, while 27 have been released under judicial supervision.
The announcement underscored the ongoing and systematic nature of Turkey’s crackdown on alleged Gülen affiliates, which has persisted since a coup attempt on July 15, 2016. Minister Yerlikaya stated that since the current cabinet assumed office on June 6, 2023, a staggering 19,025 people have been detained in connection with the movement. Of these, 3,512 have been arrested and 4,041 put under judicial supervision, reflecting the scale and intensity of the campaign.
Yerlikaya reaffirmed the government’s commitment to “resolutely continue their fight” against Gülen followers.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations in December 2013 implicated him as well as some members of his family 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 the 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.
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.
In addition to the thousands who were jailed, scores of other Gülen movement followers had to flee Turkey to avoid the government crackdown.
