Seven out of 21 people who had previously filed legal complaints against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were arrested on Tuesday in an operation targeting the Gülen movement, which is accused by the Turkish government of being behind an attempted coup on July 15.
After Erdoğan said during a public rally in February 2014 that he would “go into the Gülenists’ lairs to dig them out,” 21 people, including teachers and businessmen, filed complaints against the president claiming that they had been intimidated.
Police detained only 10 out of 21 upon the order of the Antalya Public Prosecutor’s Office on Jan. 10 as the remaining nine were found to already be in jail as part of a separate investigation into the movement.
While seven of the detainees were arrested, three were released on probation on Tuesday.
In the aftermath of the July 15 coup attempt, Turkey announced a state of emergency, under which basic human rights have been put into jeopardy. More than 130,000 people lost their jobs, over 88,000 were detained and 42,400 were arrested in post-coup government purges. (Turkey Purge)