Six relatives of US-based Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen on Saturday were detained in a new phase of a crackdown against the Gülen movement, in his hometown in the eastern province of Erzurum.
Police launched the operation against the scholar’s relatives and detained Dursun Yaşar Gülen, Lütfü İhsan Gülen, Ulvi Çelik, Akın Güler, Mutlu Kızıltunç and Ümit Yaşar Kızıltunç.
The pace of the crackdown never subsides as the government is determinedly pursuing sympathizers of Gülen, who they blame for a failed coup attempt on July 15. The scholar rejects any link to the putsch.
So far, more than 40,000 people have been detained since July 15.