Turkey seeks to arrest 55 people suspected of financing Gulen - NTV
EghtesadOnline: Turkish authorities issued arrest warrants for 55 people, including businessmen, suspected of giving financial support to the network of the U.S.-based cleric Ankara accuses of orchestrating a failed military coup in July, broadcaster NTV said.
The businessmen suspected of being linked to the cleric's network allegedly carried large sums of cash, which they have called a "favor", back and forth between Turkey, Tanzania, Uganda, and Kazakhstan since 2014, NTV said.
According to Reuters, Ankara accuses the cleric Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating the July 15 coup bid, in which rogue soldiers commandeered tanks, fighter jets and helicopters to attack the parliament and attempt to overthrow the government. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, has denied involvement and condemned the coup.
Turkey has so far jailed some 36,000 people pending trial and has suspended or dismissed more than 100,000 people from the military, judiciary, public service and others in the crackdown.
Turkey's Western allies have voiced concern at the extent of the purges under President Tayyip Erdogan, who has repeatedly rejected such criticism, saying Ankara is determined to root out its enemies at home and abroad.
Turkey classified Gulen's movement, which espouses philanthropy, interfaith dialogue and science-based education, as a terrorist network in July 2015. It says Gulen's followers spent four decades infiltrating the bureaucracy and security forces in a bid to eventually take control of the state.