A Turkish special forces police officer guards the entrance of the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, August 5, 2016.
Advertisement
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday the United States as a strategic partner should facilitate the extradition of the US -based cleric whom Ankara blames for orchestrating last month’s failed military coup.
Detention warrants were also issued against 187 businessmen, including owners of well-known companies and brands, with the head of Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists targeted as well, the daily said.
Early Thursday, a auto bomb blew up at police headquarters in the eastern city of Elazig, killing five people including three police and injuring more than 200 people.
Aydinli CEO Kavurmaci condemned the failed coup in a statement on the website of the group, which also has interests in the construction sector. State media reported that about 1000 police personnel were involved in the vast raiding operation in Istanbul, the country’s economic capital, and in other provinces. The Istanbul prosecutor demanded the assets of the 187 suspects be confiscated, Anadolu said.
Gulen’s organization, which advocates philanthropy, interfaith dialogue and science-based education, has followers across Turkish society.
No one answered calls to Aydinli, which had sales of 928 million lira ($317 million) in 2015, nor to Eroglu, which reported revenue of 490 million lira a year ago.
The suspects are accused of “membership in a terrorist organisation” and “financing the activities” of Gulen, blamed by authorities for orchestrating the July 15 putsch, according to Dogan.
Earlier this week, police searched the offices of a nationwide retail chain and a healthcare and technology company, and detained key executives.
Turkey authorities said 4 262 companies and institutions with links to Gulen had been shut.
Around half of those detained have been formally arrested. The investigation has also lead to a sweeping purge of the military, civil service, police, and judiciary, with almost 80,000 removed from public duty in post-coup purges.
Gulen’s Hizmet movement has affiliated schools around the world, including in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan, normally funded by wealthy Turkish businessmen.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings, but Yildirim said there was no doubt they were carried out by PKK militants, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
Advertisement
Gulen, 75, has strongly denied all of the government’s accusations.
