The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Friday issued detention warrants for 64 people for working for now-closed associations allegedly linked to the faith-based Gülen movement, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
According to the report, 26 of the 64 being sought have been detained by police in operations across nine provinces, while 38 are still at large.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government pursued a crackdown on the Gülen movement following corruption operations in December 2013 in which the inner circle of the government and then-Prime Minister Erdoğan were implicated.
Erdoğan also accuses the Gülen movement of masterminding the failed coup in 2016.
Despite the movement strongly denying involvement in the coup attempt, Erdoğan launched a witch-hunt targeting the movement following the putsch.
According to a European Commission (EC) report on April 17, “since the introduction of the state of emergency on July 20,2016, over 150 000 people were taken into custody, 78 000 were arrested and over 110 000 civil servants were dismissed.”
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on Dec. 12, 2017 that 234,419 passports had been revoked as part of investigations into the movement since the failed coup.
On Nov. 16, 2017 Soylu had said eight holdings and 1,020 companies were seized as part of operations against the movement.