Police detain over 1,000 Gülen suspects across Turkey

Over 1,000 people suspected of links to the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) were detained in simultaneous raids across Turkey on April 26, in an operation targeting the structure of the organization within the police forces.

کد خبر: ۶۸۸۵۵۴

تاریخ: ۰۶ ارديبهشت ۱۳۹۶ - ۱۴:۲۱

Hurriyet - Over 1,000 people suspected of links to the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) were detained in simultaneous raids across Turkey on April 26, in an operation targeting the structure of the organization within the police forces.

A total of 8,500 police officers took part in the Ankara-based operations carried out jointly by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), targeting government-dubbed "secret imams” within the police.

A total of 3,224 names were on the detention list, according to information obtained by Hürriyet.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu stated that a total of 1,009 of those "secret imams” have been detained so far.

"A total of 1,009 ‘secret imams’ have been detained so far in 72 provinces. This is an important step for the Republic of Turkey,” Soylu said.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had earlier said detention warrants had been issued for 1,000 people with suspected Gülen links in 81 provinces as a part of a massive operation.

In Istanbul, detention warrants for some 390 suspects were issued and police detained 172 of them. The operation to apprehend the other 218 suspects is ongoing with the participation of around 2,000 police officers.

Another 76 people have also been detained so far in the western province of İzmir, while in the Central Anatolian province of Konya 20 of the 119 people for whom detention warrants were issued were also apprehended.

The nationwide operation targeting for identified suspects is ongoing.

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım signalled on April 15 that officials had reached "significant findings” on FETÖ that would lead to an operation in the future.