A total of 16 suspects including two nephews of US-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen were detained on Friday as part of an investigation into the Gülen movement, which the government accuses of attempting a military coup in July of last year.
Gülen’s relatives A.G. and R.G. were detained in a Trabzon-based police operation that also included raids in four other provinces.
Turkey experienced a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed over 240 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement despite the lack of any evidence to that effect.
Under detention since Jan. 6, another of Gülen’s nephews, identified only by the initials M.A.S., was arrested on Feb. 2. (Turkey Purge)