KONYA, Turkey
More than half of the 43 people arrested in a “parallel state” operation launched by prosecutors in Turkey’s central city of Konya were released on Saturday, police said.
Friday’s arrests of police officers and education officials suspected of links to the Gulen movement led by exiled preacher Fetullah Gulen included Anadolu Atayun, the former head of Konya police’s organized crime bureau, and the ex-rector of Mevlana University, Bahattin Adam.
Adam was among six released from custody later Saturday following the release of 20 in the morning. It is not known if Atayun was among those freed.
The Konya prosecutor's office had ordered the detention of 66 suspects in 20 provinces on charges of being a member of a criminal organization on Friday. Police are still searching for the remaining 23 suspects.
The arrests were the latest in a campaign of parallel state operations that has seen hundreds arrested for links to Gulen movement since last summer.
The group and its followers are accused of orchestrating a corruption probe which targeted high-ranking Turkish officials in December 2013 in a bid to overthrow the government.
