Turkey’s Interior Ministry has denied reports claiming that Sakarya Governor Hüseyin Avni Coş, who is known to be a close ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is among five governors who are under investigation and whose passports have been cancelled due to alleged to the faith-based Gülen movement.
The Cumhuriyet daily reported on Monday that Coş, along with governors Vahdettin Özcan, İbrahim Şahin, Adnan Yılmaz and Hasan Karahan, have been found to have links to the Gülen movement according to an investigation by the State Audit Board (DDK).
Following a failed coup attempt on July 15, Erdoğan tasked the DDK with investigating the activities of the Gülen movement and its followers.
Erdoğan accuses the movement of masterminding the coup attempt, while the movement strongly denies the accusation.
According to Cumhuriyet’s story, the DDK discovered that Coş had a bank account at the Gülen-linked Bank Asya and made donations to charity organization Kimse Yok Mu, also affiliated with the movement.
Bank Asya and Kimse Yok Mu are among the hundreds of Gülen-linked organizations that were closed down following the coup attempt.
The ministry’s statement said on Monday that there is no investigation against the governors mentioned in Cumhuriyet’s report and that their passports have not been cancelled.
In the meantime, Coş’s lawyer, Erhan Dursun, also released a statement on Monday denying reports about the cancellation of the passport of his client.