Turkish prosecutors on Monday ordered the detention of 968 people over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, which Ankara accuses of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said.
The nationwide operation came two days before the 10th anniversary of the abortive putsch, Turkish Minute reported.
President Erdoğan’s campaign against the Gülen movement, a worldwide civic initiative inspired by the ideas of the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, began after corruption investigations in December 2013 implicated Erdoğan as well as members of his family and inner circle.Erdoğan dismissed the probes as a conspiracy and formally designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016.
Following the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, which he immediately accused the Gülen movement of orchestrating, Erdoğan significantly expanded an already underway crackdown on the movement’s supporters. The movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Gürlek and Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said the operation, carried out in all 81 provinces, targeted the movement’s alleged secret networks and covered 968 suspects.
“Our nation’s will and the survival of our state are under threat from the treacherous FETO/PDY network, and our struggle against it continues with the same determination as on the first day,” they wrote on X, using an acronym referring to the “parallel state structure” Ankara says Gülen’s group allegedly set up.
Footage shared on X by journalist Sevinç Özarslan showed masked police officers armed with assault rifles taking an elderly man from his home during one of the raids. The man appeared to have difficulty walking and could not use one of his arms.
Özarslan said the man was paralyzed and criticized the use of heavily armed officers to detain someone in his condition.
His identity, medical condition and the allegations against him were not immediately known.
The footage prompted criticism on social media over the methods used in the operation, particularly against elderly, ill and disabled suspects.
Following the coup attempt, Erdoğan’s government imposed a state of emergency that remained in force for two years and oversaw a sweeping purge of the military, police, judiciary, media, education system and diplomatic corps.
Hundreds of thousands of people were investigated or detained, while more than 130,000 public servants were dismissed by emergency decrees over alleged ties to the movement and other outlawed groups.
Analysts view the coup attempt as a turning point in Turkey’s recent history that enabled Erdoğan to consolidate his control over state institutions and further restrict political and civil liberties.
Last week Çiftçi sent a letter to the governors of Turkey’s 81 provinces describing the events of July 15, 2016, as “a foundational and indisputable turning point.”
