M.A.B., the owner of a large grocery store chain in the capital province of Ankara, is among businessmen police detained over alleged links to the Gülen movement on Wednesday.
The government accuses the movement of masterminding a July 15 coup attempt despite the movement denying any involvement.
M.A.B. owns a popular chain with stores in Ankara, Zonguldak and Bolu provinces. His assets had previously been seized by an Ankara court on the same charges of ties to the movement.
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has already been appointing trustees to private companies as part of its battle against the Gülen movement since a corruption scandal led to the resignation of four Cabinet members in December 2013. A total of 2,000 trustees have been appointed to hundreds of private enterprises in Turkey from the beginning of 2016.
Thanks to decrees issued as part of the state of emergency declared on July 20 following the failed coup on July 15, Turkey’s government is now seizing all the Turkish companies and properties owned by businessmen allegedly linked to Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
The total turnover of companies seized by the government has been estimated at over $50 billion, the Cumhuriyet daily reported on Oct. 15. (Turkey Purge)