Turkish authorities continue to detain, arrest, torture and blacklist people accused of ties to the Gulen movement, often without credible evidence, due process or transparency, according to a new report published by Australia’s foreign ministry.
The “DFAT Country Information Report Türkiye,” issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), details how individuals have been detained, arrested or dismissed from their jobs based on financial transactions with the now-shut-down Bank Asya, membership in Gülen-linked trade unions or associations, rapid promotion in the public service or the military, enrolling a child in a Gülen-affiliated school, undisclosed police or intelligence reports, social media contacts, internet browsing history or tips from neighbors or colleagues.
The Turkish government has not published clear criteria for identifying members of the Gülen movement, according to DFAT.
Many individuals were not shown the evidence against them or allowed to mount a defense. The State of Emergency Inquiry Commission, created to review such cases, upheld most of the dismissals.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations revealed in December 2013 implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan as well as some members of his family and his inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and a conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement as a terrorist organization and began to target its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following an abortive putsch that he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Following the failed coup, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency and carried out a massive purge of state institutions under the pretext of an anti-coup fight. Over 130,000 public servants, including 4,156 judges and prosecutors, and more than 24,000 members of the armed forces were summarily removed from their jobs for alleged membership in or relationships with “terrorist organizations” by emergency decree-laws subject to neither judicial nor parliamentary scrutiny.
According to a statement from Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç ahead of the eighth anniversary of the coup attempt last July, a total of 705,172 people have been investigated since the coup attempt on terrorism or coup-related charges due to their alleged links to the movement. Tunç said at the time that there were 13,251 people in prison in pretrial detention or convicted of terrorism in Gülen-linked trials.
These figures are thought to have increased over the past 10 months since the operations targeting Gülen followers continue unabated. Erdoğan and several government ministers said on many occasions that there would be no “slackening” in the fight against the movement following the cleric’s death at 83.
In some cases, encrypted messaging app ByLock usage was the sole evidence. In 2017 the Ankara prosecutor admitted that nearly 11,500 people were wrongly accused after another app unknowingly redirected users to ByLock servers. About 1,000 detainees were released as a result.
ByLock, once widely available online, has been considered a secret tool of communication among supporters of the movement since the coup attempt, despite the lack of any evidence that ByLock messages were related to the abortive putsch.
Reports of torture in custody include beatings, stress positions, deprivation of medical care, mock executions, sexual assault and rape. DFAT notes these incidents occurred in unofficial detention centers and were sometimes supervised by police doctors. Detainees were frequently denied legal counsel and held up to 30 days without charge. Allegations of enforced disappearances persist, including the abduction of Turkish nationals abroad, with the most recent case in October 2024. DFAT notes that while extreme torture has declined, reports of mistreatment persist.
The consequences extended well beyond detention. Names of those dismissed were marked in Turkey’s national insurance system (SGK), effectively blacklisting them from public and private employment. Dismissed individuals lost access to income, pensions and healthcare.
Their passports were cancelled and emergency decrees required them to leave public housing within 15 days. Family members faced secondary sanctions, including job loss, asset freezes and travel bans.
Since 2016, the government has seized or appointed trustees to run roughly 1,000 businesses allegedly linked to the movement. A 2023 report from the Institute for Diplomacy and Economy estimated the value of confiscated assets at $50 billion, calling the seizures “arbitrary and vengeful.”
Nine years on, Turkey’s crackdown shows no signs of slowing. At least 650 people were detained in January and February alone. In one case, 14 high school students aged 13 to 17 were arrested in May 2024. Their alleged offenses included sharing an apartment, attending a study group and going to the movies. In December 2023, more than 400 police officers were suspended for suspected ties to the movement.
Surveillance and pressure extend beyond Turkey’s borders. DFAT reports that Turkish nationals abroad, particularly those with a public profile or organizational affiliation, may be monitored online or in person. In one case, a Turkish Australian was surveilled during a 2019 private university meeting. DFAT notes that while no extraditions from Australia or other Western countries have occurred, several individuals have been abducted or forcibly returned elsewhere.
The report concludes that members of the movement still face a high risk of arrest, prosecution and physical abuse in detention. It finds that the evidentiary standards often fall short, particularly since affiliation with the movement was not a crime prior to 2016. Civil servants are likely to be dismissed without due process and may face blacklisting, loss of benefits and social stigma. DFAT also notes a high risk of societal discrimination, including the public release of names.
