A Turkish court has jailed outspoken Islamic cleric Alparslan Kuytul, his wife, Semra and 33 others pending trial in a financial crimes investigation targeting the Furkan religious movement, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The arrests followed coordinated raids on 49 locations across six provinces last week as part of the investigation led by the Adana Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Of the 56 suspects referred to court, three were released by prosecutors. Forty-four were sent to a judge with a request for their arrest and nine with a request for judicial supervision.
The court jailed 35 suspects, including the Kuytuls, and released the remaining 18 under judicial supervision.
Prosecutors are investigating them on suspicion of establishing or leading a criminal organization, membership in the organization, laundering criminal proceeds, aggravated fraud, forgery of official documents and tax law violations.
The Furkan movement denies the allegations and says the investigation is politically motivated.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek initially announced legal proceedings against 32 suspects, but another 24 people were detained in the days that followed.
Gürlek said courts had appointed trustees to five companies and blocked access to 349 social media accounts allegedly linked to the movement.
He described the investigation as targeting a group known publicly as the “Kuytul organization” and insisted it was not directed at “any religious group, belief or opinion.”
The Ankara-based Human Rights Association (İHD) criticized the arrests and other measures imposed during the investigation, warning against turning pretrial detention into a form of punishment.
“The appointment of trustees to companies, the seizure of assets, the blocking of hundreds of social media accounts and the detention of lawyers following the case raise serious concerns about rights violations,” the association said.
The İHD said the appointment of trustees and seizure of assets from companies linked to people who have not been convicted affect not only the suspects but also employees, their families and others with economic ties to the businesses.
It called for such measures to be based on “concrete and reviewable grounds” and remain within the limits of necessity and proportionality.
The movement has also alleged that some of Kuytul’s lawyers were detained and that he was questioned without legal representation, describing the alleged practice as a violation of his right to a defense.
Social media accounts belonging to Kuytul and the Furkan movement are currently inaccessible from Turkey.
A statement posted on Kuytul’s X account on Saturday denied the allegations.
“This movement will go down in Turkish history with its head held high and its struggle without committing crimes, while the police will be remembered for this persecution,” the statement said.
Warning from Erdoğan adviser
The operation came a day after Oktay Saral, a chief adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, publicly warned Kuytul over his criticism of an earlier police operation targeting the Süleymanlılar or Süleymancılar, another Islamic community.
“You still haven’t come to your senses. Your turn will come!” Saral wrote on social media.
He also used a Turkish expression warning Kuytul that “the water had heated up” for him, meaning he was about to face serious consequences.
Kuytul had criticized the August 13 raids targeting the Süleymanlılar, claiming the community was being punished for withholding political support from Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
“The Süleymancılar have not voted for the government for years. At one point they supported the CHP, and I believe this was very important in the operation,” Kuytul said, referring to the main opposition Republican People’s Party.
“If they had supported the AKP, I am as certain as I am of my own name that this would not have happened to them.”
The Furkan movement said the timing of the raids, a day after Saral’s warning, indicated that the investigation had been launched on political orders.
Turkish officials deny political interference in criminal proceedings and say the judiciary acts independently.
Police carried out the earlier operation against the Süleymancılar in 17 provinces, detaining community leader Alihan Kuriş and dozens of other suspects. Kuriş and 31 others were later jailed pending trial on financial crime and criminal organization charges.
The two operations within a week have drawn attention to the government’s treatment of religious communities that do not support the AKP. Both investigations have involved financial allegations, company takeovers and the appointment of government trustees.
History of gov’t pressure
Kuytul established the Furkan Education and Service Foundation in 1994. The Islamist movement has frequently criticized Erdoğan’s government and has faced repeated police intervention, administrative penalties and criminal investigations.
In July 2025 officials sealed its Ankara headquarters and three local offices, accusing an affiliated association of operating unauthorized social facilities. Kuytul called the decision arbitrary and politically motivated.
The US State Department also referred to the treatment of Furkan members in its 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom, describing the group as known for opposing Erdoğan’s political Islamist policies.
The report said Turkish officials had announced no further action in an investigation into alleged police violence against Furkan members at a 2022 demonstration demanding the release of eight people detained in a kidnapping case.
According to Furkan Foundation members cited in the report, a 15-year-old was among those injured and required hospitalization.
Kuytul was released from pretrial detention under judicial supervision in June 2023 after being jailed in a case concerning the alleged abduction of a businessman in Adana. He denied accusations including instigating unlawful confinement, extortion, bodily harm and torture.
He was also jailed in 2018 after criticizing Turkey’s military intervention in northern Syria and its offensive in Afrin. He was acquitted in that case in 2020.
Kuytul says the government has targeted him because of his criticism of Erdoğan, including his opposition to the sweeping crackdown on the faith-based Gülen movement.
The government denies using criminal investigations to silence its critics.
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
