Detention warrants were issued for 110 former owners, executives and employees of Kaynak Holding, which was seized by the government in November 2015 due to its links to the faith-based Gülen movement, Karar daily reported on Friday.
According to the report, police launched operations to detain 110 people in 24 provinces across Turkey as part of investigation into Gülen movement by the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Detention warrants were issued for 103 former executives of Kaynak Holding on June 7.
Following the appointment of trustees to Kaynak Holding in November 2015, 43 of the conglomerate’s companies were transferred to the state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), in October 2016.
The government has been confiscating the private property of non-loyalist businesspeople without due process on unsubstantiated charges of terrorist links.
73 companies were seized by courts in Uşak province in October over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement.
The government accuses the movement of masterminding the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016 even though the movement denies any involvement.
The government’s crackdown on the movement, however, is not limited to the period following the coup attempt since the management of many organizations affiliated with the movement have already been seized over the course of the past three years.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said in July that the government had seized 966 companies from people allegedly linked to the Gülen movement.
“In addition, 4,888 properties of those 966 companies were also seized and transferred to the Finance Ministry,” said Kurtulmuş.
Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 50,510 people have been arrested and 169,013 have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup.
Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 civil servants, including governors, judges, prosecutors, teachers, soldiers and police, since July 15 through government decrees issued as part of the state of emergency.
Turkey survived a controversial military coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that killed 249 people. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since July 15. Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 50,510 people have been arrested and 169,013 have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup. (SCF with turkishminute.com)
