Turkey Detains 77 in Nationwide Gülen Movement Operations, 43 Jailed

Nationwide Operations Target Alleged Gülen Links

Turkish authorities have detained 77 individuals in nationwide operations over the past two weeks, citing alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced the detentions on Saturday via a statement posted on X, confirming that 43 of the 77 detainees have been jailed pending trial.

The operations were carried out by gendarmerie units across dozens of provinces, including major cities such as İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Antalya, Bursa, and Diyarbakır. Those taken into custody are accused of operating within the movement's 'current structure,' maintaining contact through public pay phones, providing financial support through businesses linked to the network, and disseminating propaganda for the Gülen movement on social media.

'Payphone Investigations' and Allegations

A significant aspect of these investigations involves what authorities term 'payphone investigations.' Prosecutors allege that members of the Gülen movement used single public payphones to contact their associates consecutively. Based on this assumption, if an alleged member is identified in call records, other numbers called immediately before or after are also presumed to belong to individuals with Gülen links. Authorities reportedly do not possess the content of these calls.

Accusations against detainees also include involvement in financing charities linked to the movement and using encrypted messaging applications like ByLock, which Turkish authorities claim served as a secret communication tool for Gülen supporters.

The Gülen Movement and Government Crackdown

The Gülen movement, also known as Hizmet, is a faith-based group inspired by the late Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, who lived in self-imposed exile in the United States until his death in October 2024. While the movement's followers deny any involvement in terrorism, the Turkish government designated it as a terrorist organization, referring to it as the 'Fethullah Terrorist Organization' (FETÖ), in May 2016.

The government accuses the movement of orchestrating the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, a charge that Gülen and his followers have consistently denied. This designation is not recognized by the United States, the European Union, or major international bodies.

The crackdown on the Gülen movement intensified following the 2016 coup attempt, though it began earlier in December 2013 after corruption investigations implicated then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Erdoğan dismissed these investigations as a 'Gülenist coup' and a conspiracy against his government.

Since 2016, hundreds of thousands of individuals have been investigated, with tens of thousands imprisoned and over 130,000 public servants dismissed from their positions due to alleged links to the movement. According to recent figures from the Justice Ministry, more than 126,000 people have been convicted for alleged links since 2016, with 11,085 still in prison. Legal proceedings are ongoing for over 24,000 individuals, and another 58,000 remain under active investigation. Minister Yerlikaya has vowed to continue the fight against Gülen followers.