Turkish police raid over 200 addresses in FETO swoops

By Muhammed Enes Can and Murat Kaya

ANKARA

The chief prosecutor of Istanbul has issued orders for the confiscation of properties of 187 Fetullah Terror Organization (FETO) suspects, the prosecutor’s office announced Thursday.

According to the office, the suspects include the chairman of Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), Rizanur Meral, Aydinli Group Chairman Omer Faruk Kavurmaci, and Faruk Gulluoglu and Nejat Gulluoglu, owners of the Gulluoglu Baklava chain.

The decision on the confiscation of properties was taken under a statutory decree, which had been published as part of the three-month state of emergency in Turkey.

Within the scope of the investigation, 60 people including Kavurmaci and Gullu were taken into custody, the prosecutor's office said.

The search for the rest of the suspects remains ongoing, the prosecutor’s office added.

Earlier Thursday, police raided over 200 addresses across 18 provinces, including Istanbul, as part of a nationwide probe into the financing of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a security source said the Istanbul Counter-Financial Crimes Branch Directorate simultaneously raided addresses in the city’s Fatih, Sisli, Kagithane, Pendik and Sile districts with riot police back-up.

Officers searched premises of business groups TUSKON in 18 provinces across the country. 

The source said that arrest warrants had been issued for a total of 187 people, including for Meral, Kavurmaci, Faruk Gulluoglu and Nejat Gulluoglu.

Thursday’s raids follow a major operation in Istanbul on Tuesday against 51 companies suspected of supporting FETO. Financial crime officers raided companies – including Akfa Holding and the A101 supermarket chain – in the city’s Uskudar and Umraniye districts. Eighty arrests were made. 

Over 40,000 detentions made

A wave of detentions following the July 15 defeated coup has seen thousands of people held across Turkey.

Senior business figures, as well as members of the military, police and judiciary have been among those targeted.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim confirmed on Wednesday over 20,000 people had been remanded in custody since the July 15 coup attempt.

During a live interview on the state-owned TRT Haber news channel, Yildirim laid out statistics indicating a wide-ranging investigation in which "40,029 people have been detained and 20,355 were remanded including police officers, soldiers, judiciary members, local administrators and civilians.”

Yildirim also said a total of 5,187 people are still being questioned.

So far, nearly 80,000 civil servants have been suspended from duty while just over 5,000 have been dismissed, Yildirim added.

Turkey's government has said the defeated coup, which left 240 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured, was organized by followers of Fetullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, and his FETO network.

Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.