Mr Gulen has denied any prior knowledge or involvement in the coup, but Ankara wants America to extradite him.
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Turkish authorities ordered the detention of almost 200 people, including leading businessmen, and seized their assets as an investigation into suspects in last month’s failed military rebellion shifted to the private sector. He also said 4262 companies and institutions with links to Gulen have been shut.
Turkish authorities have demanded that USA authorities extradite Gulen following the failed putsch, which saw a faction of the military attempt to seize power while Erdogan was out of the capital on vacation.
Today’s decrees, published in the Official Gazette, also ordered the dismissal of 2,360 more police officers, more than 100 military personnel and 196 staff at Turkey’s information and communication technology authority, BTK.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday Ankara would put its domestic and external intelligence operations under an umbrella structure to allow better coordination and help prevent another coup attempt. The “supervised release” excludes those convicted of terrorism, murder, violent or sexual crimes.
Police in Istanbul and 17 other provinces were searching for supporters of Gulen’s movement, including prominent businessmen, suspected of belonging to and financing his organization, CNN Turk said.
The global religious and social organization led by exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen is accused of running a parallel state within Turkey and of being responsible for the failed coup attempt on July 15.
Eroglu said it had no links to any company providing finance to Gulen’s movement, according to the Hurriyet news website.
It does not apply to those who committed crimes after July 1, officials said.
Critics have accused Erdogan of using Turkey’s post-coup state of emergency to round up dissenters and media members that oppose the government.
Western criticism of the purge and Ankara’s demands USA officials send Gulen home have already frayed ties with Washington and the European Union, increasing tensions over an EU deal with Turkey to stem the flow of migrants.
The agency also said officials have made a formal request to Greece for the extradition of eight officers who fled to the neighboring country.
The leak added to a string of rows between Berlin and Ankara, whose Foreign Ministry described the allegations as “a new manifestation of the twisted mentality, which for some time has been trying to wear down our country, by targeting our president and government”.
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German government spokesman Steffen Seibert declined to directly comment on the report but said Turkey was an indispensible partner in countering the “Islamic State”.
