Turkish courts have jailed 81 people pending trial in a financial crimes investigation involving members of Süleymanlılar religious community including its leader, Alihan Kuriş, while İdris Naim Şahin, a former interior minister, has been summoned to give a statement, Turkish media reported on Saturday.
The community is commonly called the Süleymancılar, while its members call it the Süleymanlılar.
It traces its roots to followers of Islamic scholar Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan and operates Quran courses, student dormitories and mosques in Turkey and Europe.
Prosecutors said legal proceedings had been initiated against 124 people, while 10 were released under judicial supervision.
Police procedures were continuing for two detainees, and officers were seeking 27 others.
In the latest operation, police detained 37 people on August 25, and a court jailed 35 of them while releasing two under court supervision.
The first round of raids took place in 17 provinces on August 13, after which Kuriş and 31 others were jailed and six were put under house arrest.
Prosecutors said a vehicle assigned to Şahin was used in an attempt to help Kuriş’s brother, Hilmi Tuna Kuriş, leave Turkey before police detained him in the southwestern resort town of Marmaris.
Şahin said he had rented the vehicle for his own use in İstanbul, did not know it had been used to carry Kuriş and had filed a complaint against the owner of the rental company.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said phone records and other evidence did not match Şahin’s account, while reports did not identify Şahin as a suspect or say he had been accused of a crime.
Prosecutors broadly accuse Kuriş and others of running a profit-seeking network tied to financial crimes.
Kuriş has denied leading a criminal group or taking part in financial crimes.
Gürlek has said the investigation concerns financial conduct and does not target a religious belief or community.
The raids followed years of calls from figures close to the government for action against the community, whose leadership has not supported the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
