ISTANBUL, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities on Tuesday detained 88 suspects in two separate investigations over their alleged links to the Gulen movement, which Ankara accuses of orchestrating a failed coup attempt in 2016, officials said.
The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri said 70 suspects were detained in simultaneous raids carried out in Kayseri, Istanbul, Adana, and Mersin following an eight-month surveillance operation.
A total of 144 teams, including 676 personnel and special operations units, took part in the raids. Police seized concealed audio recording and camera devices, unlicensed firearms, ammunition, as well as various organizational documents and digital materials, officials said.
In a separate investigation led by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, 18 additional suspects, including 16 public officials, were detained in an operation conducted across eight provinces.
The office added that two of the suspects were alleged to have held senior roles within the organization, while the other detainees were public officials accused of being members.
The Turkish government blames Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who lived in self-exile in the United States from 1999 until his death in 2024, for orchestrating the failed coup attempt in July 2016, which left at least 250 people dead and around 2,200 others injured. Türkiye has designated the Gulen movement as a terrorist organization. ■
