According to Turkey’s deputy interior minister, İsmail Çataklı 2,073 suspects were detained in July as part of a post-coup crackdown targeting the faith-based Gülen movement, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The Turkish government accuses the Gülen movement of masterminding a failed coup on July 15, 2016 and labels it a “terrorist organization,” although the movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
In all counterterrorism investigations in July, Turkish police took 2,940 suspects into custody, 561 of whom were arrested by a court.
Following the coup attempt, the Turkish government launched a massive crackdown on followers of the movement under the pretext of an anti-coup fight as a result of which some 140,000 people were removed from state jobs while over half a million have been investigated on allegations of terrorism.
Depositing money to a Gülen-linked bank, making a donation to a Gülen-affiliated aid organization or sending one’s child to a Gülen school are all considered criminal acts and evidence of membership in a terrorist organization by Turkish judicial authorities.
