Turkish security forces have detained 128 people in raids across 22 provinces and jailed 51 of them pending trial over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, according to a statement from Turkey’s Interior Ministry, the state broadcaster TRT Haber reported Wednesday.
Fourteen others were released under judicial supervision, while authorities were still processing the remaining suspects,
The ministry accused those detained of remaining active in the movement, communicating with its members, financing organizations allegedly connected to it and promoting it on social media. The statement did not identify the suspects, disclose the provinces where the raids took place or detail the evidence against them.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has targeted 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. He dismissed the probes as a Gülenist conspiracy and designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016, intensifying a sweeping crackdown after a coup attempt in July of the same year that he accused Gülen of orchestrating. The movement denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
According to the latest figures from the justice ministry, more than 127,000 people have been convicted for alleged links to the movement, and authorities had initiated legal proceedings against 720,338 people since 2016, with 10,485 still in prison. Investigations or trials involving another 83,404 are still ongoing.
In addition to the thousands who were jailed, scores of other Gülen movement followers had to flee Turkey to avoid the government crackdown.
