Turkish security forces have apprehended 5,033 people accused of links to the faith-based Gülen movement while they were attempting to cross from the northwestern province of Edirne into Europe in the decade since a failed coup in Turkey, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported Wednesday.
The figures were published on July 15, the 10th anniversary of the failed coup, which killed 251 people and injured more than 2,000.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blamed the coup on the Gülen movement immediately after it unfolded. The movement, inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who died in 2024, strongly denies involvement.
Anadolu said military units, police and gendarmerie teams detained the 5,033 people in the northwestern province of Edirne.
They included former military officers, judges, prosecutors, teachers, police officers, academics and lawyers dismissed from public service by government decrees during a state of emergency declared after the coup attempt.
The total covers people facing widely differing allegations, from direct participation in the coup to terrorist organization membership based on alleged association with the movement.
Anadolu did not say how many had been convicted or were subject to outstanding warrants when they were detained.
Following the coup, the Turkish government canceled tens of thousands of passports, including those of people dismissed from public service over alleged Gülen links.
Unable to leave Turkey legally and fearing detention, some turned to smugglers to cross the Evros River or travel across the Aegean Sea to Greece.
Many made the dangerous journey with their spouses and children. Some families perished when their boats capsized or they were swept away by strong currents, while others faced exposure, arrest or pushbacks by border authorities.
Decade-long crackdown
President Erdoğan has targeted the Gülen movement 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 later designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016, intensifying a sweeping crackdown after the coup attempt in July of the same year that he accused Gülen of orchestrating.
The crackdown intensified after the failed coup, with hundreds of thousands investigated, detained, prosecuted or dismissed from public service over alleged Gülen links.
More than 720,000 people have faced legal proceedings and 127,102 have been convicted over alleged links to the movement, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said this week. Another 83,404 remain under investigation or on trial, 10,485 are in prison and 33,827 are wanted.
Official figures show that 4,891 people have been convicted in 289 trials concerning direct participation in the coup, a fraction of the number prosecuted over alleged association with the movement.
Turkish security forces carried out 1,065 operations and detained 2,451 people accused of Gülen links in the first six months of 2026, according to official figures.
Turkish prosecutors and courts have cited activities that were legal at the time — including having an account at the now-closed Bank Asya, working at movement-affiliated institutions, belonging to certain unions, subscribing to specific publications and using the ByLock messaging application — as evidence of terrorist organization membership.
The European Court of Human Rights and UN experts have criticized Turkey’s reliance on such indicators, warning that its counterterrorism laws have been used to criminalize lawful conduct and impose guilt by association.
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
