Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, Juy 6, 2017. (AP/Burhan Ozbilici)
Turkey’s official news agency reported Tuesday that police have detained 42 people, including academics, for alleged links to a US-based Muslim cleric, less than a week before the anniversary of a failed coup in the country.
Anadolu news agency said the operations Monday targeted people working at Turkey’s Bogazici and Medeniyet University. Prominent Bogazici academic and government critic Koray Caliskan and 19 professors from Medeniyet’s medical school are among the detained.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government blames cleric Fethullah Gulen for masterminding the July 15, 2016, coup attempt and has arrested more than 50,000 people for alleged links to terror groups. Gulen denies the accusations.
Anadolu said the suspects are being investigated for using an encrypted mobile messaging application and communicating with clandestine “imams” in Gulen’s network.
Detention warrants have been issued for 30 more people, according to the agency.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
Amnesty International Turkey director Idil Eser. (Screen capture: YouTube)
Last week, Turkish police detained Idil Eser, Amnesty International’s Turkey director, along with other human rights activists.
Human Rights Watch said the action “is a repressive new low for the Turkish state,” urging Turkish authorities to provide a public explanation of why it is investigating them as members of a terror group.
Advertisement
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
