It said the companies were accused of giving financial support to the movement of US -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of orchestrating the July 15 putsch.
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Gulen, in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, has denied the government’s accusations.
According to official figures, more than 35,000 people have been detained so far in the post-coup crackdown against alleged Gulen supporters, although nearly 11,600 have since been released. Since the coup, authorities have formally arrested 17,000 people and detained 18,000 more and suspended tens of thousands of civil servants in a purge of Turkey’s military, education and justice systems.
The agency said police took some of those detained away from Caglayan for questioning at a police station.
Also on August 18, Turkish police raided 44 Istanbul companies after detention orders were issued for 120 business executives.
“It was a night of horror – but we weren’t scared for our lives, we were scared for our nation”, says Ravza Kavakci Kan, an MP with the governing AK Party, as we tour the destruction in parliament.
The lawsuit, which Mr Kilic said he filed in an Istanbul administrative court, demands that the state-controlled carrier either rehire him or pay compensation and clarify that the reason for the sacking was not related to the purge of employees allegedly tied to the US-based imam Fethullah Gulen.
Since then, more than 1,800 people have been killed. The private Dogan news agency said the companies searched included a supermarket chain.
Turkey has sought Gulen’s extradition from the US, which has asked for evidence against the cleric’s role in the coup plot against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who heads the Islam-rooted Justice and Development Party.
Turning to Europe, Erdogan said if what Turkey faced had taken place in the West, “they would both introduce capital punishment and declare a non-stop state of emergency”. “If you did not consciously support FETO after December 17, you should not be anxious”, Yildirim said, using the acronym for “Gulenist Terror Group”, as Ankara refers to Gulen’s movement. Those companies provide jobs for thousands of people, giving a lifeline to the economy.
The government is also planning to shut down the TIB telecommunications regulator and transfer its powers to its parent, an umbrella regulatory body, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said this week.
In a crackdown since the abortive coup, more than 76,000 civil servants, judges and security force members have been suspended and almost 5,000 dismissed, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday.
But Turkish officials say his network of followers inside state institutions masterminded the putsch when rogue soldiers commandeered tanks, warplanes and helicopters.
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Incensed over a perceived lack of Western sympathy over the coup attempt, Erdogan has also revived relations with Russian Federation, a detente Western officials worry may be used by both leaders to pressure the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
