Turkish police on Thursday detained four former police and military personnel dismissed over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement who authorities said were preparing to flee the country, the state-run TRT Haber news website reported.
Police stopped a car in Babaeski, a district in the northwestern province of Kırklareli, and detained four passengers and the driver. The four were identified only by their initials as M.O., a dismissed police officer; C.A., a former noncommissioned officer; and two dismissed military pilots, 1st Lt. E.B. and Lt. O.Ç.
It was unclear whether any of the four were the subject of arrest warrants or had prior convictions.
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 Erdoğan 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.
Another person in the vehicle, identified as T.Y., was detained on suspicion of migrant smuggling.
The five are still in police custody, TRT Haber reported.
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 since 2016, with 10,485 still in prison and legal proceedings ongoing against 83,404 individuals.
In addition to the thousands who were jailed, scores of other Gülen movement followers had to flee Turkey to avoid the government crackdown.
