Turkish authorities have detained nine people who were attempting to leave the country by boat to avoid serving prison sentences handed down over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, the state-run TRT Haber reported.
The nine were intercepted by the Turkish coast guard off the coast of southwestern Muğla province along with two children. The children were handed over to relatives, while the nine and the boat’s captain were taken into custody and are expected to be referred to court after processing.
Courts of first instance had convicted the nine of membership in a terrorist organization over their alleged links to the Gülen movement and sentenced them to prison. Their cases were pending before regional appeals courts.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has targeted the Gülen movement, a worldwide civic initiative inspired by the ideas of 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 coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
According to the latest figures from the justice ministry, 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 those jailed, thousands of Gülen movement followers have fled Turkey to escape the government crackdown. According to official figures, Turkish security forces apprehended 5,033 people accused of links to the Gülen movement in the northwestern province of Edirne alone while they were attempting to cross into Europe in the decade following the failed coup in July 2016.
