Türkiye detains 77 suspects linked to 2016 coup attempt

ANKARA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities have detained 77 suspects in operations over the past two weeks over their alleged links to the Gulen movement, Türkiye's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Tuesday.

The operations were conducted across 26 provinces, including Antalya, Aydin, Gaziantep, Istanbul, Izmir and Samsun, Yerlikaya said on the social media platform X, without specifying the time frame of the operations.

Of those detained, 56 have been formally arrested, and 21 suspects remain under judicial investigation, he said.

Security forces also seized a significant number of organizational documents and digital materials during the raids, Yerlikaya added.

The suspects are accused of spreading the group's propaganda on social media, maintaining active roles in the group's current structure, communicating with other members via payphones, and providing financial support to organizations affiliated with the group, he explained.

The Turkish government classifies the Gulen movement as a terrorist organization and holds it responsible for a coup attempt in July 2016, in which more than 250 people were killed. The movement was led by Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lived in the United States from 1999 until his death in 2024.

Following the failed coup, the Turkish authorities have arrested thousands of suspects accused of links to the movement. Enditem