The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has to declined to comment on reports in the Turkish media that it had launched investigations into followers of the faith-based Gülen movement in the US, as claimed by Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
“I have recently seen a credible probe by the FBI on how the Gülen organization avoids taxes,” Çavuşoğlu told a conference in Doha, Reuters reported on Sunday. However, the same story also reported that the FBI declined to comment on whether the law enforcement agency was investigating individuals or entities with ties to Gülen for tax evasion.
On Monday Çavuşoğlu further alleged that people had been detained in New Jersey as part of investigations into the Gülen movement in 15 states.
Previous statements by Çavuşoğlu such as a claim that former US President Barack Obama was scheduled to attend the opening of a mosque in Maryland along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had been denied by the US.