Turkish police have detained 11 people in two separate operations over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, including five accused of providing financial assistance to people allegedly associated with the movement and their families, the state-run TRT Haber news website reported.
The five were detained Wednesday in raids across Osmaniye, Adana, Ankara, Edirne and Eskişehir as part of an investigation by the Osmaniye Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has targeted the faith-based Gülen movement, inspired by Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, who died in 2024, 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 attempted coup or any terrorist activity.
Authorities said the money was sent from abroad through international digital payment platforms. Police also seized digital devices during searches of the detainees’ homes, workplaces and vehicles.
In a separate operation on Tuesday, police detained six people in raids across three provinces as part of an investigation led by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Prosecutors alleged that the six had links to the Gülen movement but provided no details about their alleged activities.
According to figures released by Justice Minister Akın Gürlek in July 2026, more than 127,000 people have been convicted of 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.
