Turkish prosecutors have ordered the detention of 78 people as part of an investigation into the alleged education network of the faith-based Gülen movement, in the latest operation targeting people accused of links to the group nearly a decade after a failed coup attempt.
The operation was launched under the coordination of the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Authorities said the investigation was aimed at uncovering what they described as the movement’s current activities in the education sector. Simultaneous raids were carried out as part of the probe, with police detaining 77 people. One suspect remained at large.
The prosecutor’s office said the operation included detention, search and seizure orders against the suspects. Officials said the investigation was continuing and that further information would be provided as developments emerge.
The Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, has long been one of the most politically sensitive issues in Turkey. The movement was once influential in education, media, business and parts of the state bureaucracy, but its relationship with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party deteriorated sharply after corruption investigations in December 2013 targeted Erdoğan, members of his family and people close to his government.
Erdoğan dismissed the corruption probes as an attempted judicial coup by Gülen-linked figures inside the police and judiciary. Turkish authorities later designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016, using the official acronym FETÖ. The crackdown intensified after the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which Ankara says was organized by the movement.
Gülen, who lived in self-imposed exile in the United States until his death in 2024, denied involvement in the coup attempt. The movement has also rejected accusations that it is a terrorist organization.
The latest İzmir-based operation focuses on the education sector, an area historically associated with the Gülen movement. Before the government crackdown, the movement had been known for its schools, tutoring centers, dormitories and education-related charities in Turkey and abroad. After the coup attempt, Turkish authorities closed or seized many institutions accused of links to the movement and dismissed large numbers of teachers, academics and education workers.
The government argues that continued operations are necessary because the movement still maintains hidden networks inside Turkish society and state institutions. Pro-government media frequently describe the suspects as part of “current” or “active” structures, a term used by authorities for alleged post-2016 networks that they say continue to operate despite the crackdown.
Critics, however, say the government’s campaign has gone far beyond those directly accused of involvement in the coup attempt and has swept up people on the basis of weak or indirect evidence, including employment history, union membership, bank accounts, school enrollment, use of certain messaging applications or social ties.
Justice Ministry figures show the scale of the post-coup prosecutions. According to official data cited by Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç, 126,796 civilians have been convicted over alleged links to the movement since 2016. The ministry has also said that 11,085 convicted or sentenced people remain in prison, while 24,000 cases are still ongoing and 58,000 people remain under active investigation.
The same figures show the wider institutional impact of the purge. Turkish authorities dismissed around 127,000 public employees for alleged links or affiliation with the movement, while an emergency commission later reviewed applications and reinstated around 20,000 people. The judiciary was also heavily affected, with 4,006 judges and prosecutors removed after the coup attempt.
Turkish officials say the measures were necessary to remove Gülen-linked elements from the state and to prevent another coup attempt. They point to the deaths of more than 250 people during the failed coup and argue that the state had to respond firmly to a direct attack on democratic institutions.
Human rights organizations and legal observers have taken a different view, saying that Turkey’s post-coup prosecutions have often relied on broad terrorism charges and have raised serious concerns about due process, individualized evidence and fair trial rights.
One of the most important legal developments came from the European Court of Human Rights in the Yüksel Yalçınkaya case. The court ruled in 2023 that Turkey violated the rights of a teacher convicted of membership in a terrorist organization, finding problems with the use of the ByLock encrypted messaging application as decisive evidence. The judgment found violations of the right to a fair trial, the principle of no punishment without law and freedom of association. The ruling was seen as potentially significant for thousands of similar cases.
Despite international criticism, Turkish authorities have continued regular operations against alleged Gülen movement members. Detention warrants are frequently issued in multiple provinces, often targeting former public employees, private-sector workers, teachers, military personnel, police officers, students or people accused of using communication methods allegedly linked to the movement.
The İzmir investigation is part of that continuing pattern. Its focus on education is notable because schools and tutoring networks were central to the movement’s public presence before 2016. Turkish officials have repeatedly claimed that these institutions were used for recruitment and influence-building, while supporters of the movement describe them as lawful civil society and education initiatives.
The issue also has an international dimension. Large numbers of people accused of links to the Gülen movement left Turkey after 2016 and sought asylum in Europe, North America and elsewhere. Ankara has asked foreign governments to extradite suspects, but many requests have been rejected or left unresolved, with courts in several countries raising concerns over political persecution, fair trial guarantees and prison conditions in Turkey.
Justice Minister Tunç has said Turkey submitted thousands of extradition and red notice requests related to the movement, but that only a limited number of people were returned. Turkish officials have criticized Western countries for refusing to cooperate more closely, while rights advocates have accused Ankara of pursuing political opponents beyond its borders.
The latest detention order shows that the government’s campaign against the Gülen movement remains active nearly 10 years after the failed coup. It also underlines how education, once one of the movement’s most visible areas of activity, continues to be treated by Turkish prosecutors as a key field of investigation.
