Azerbaijan holds 4 over links to Gülenists

BAKU - Agence France-Presse

Officials in Azerbaijan on Aug. 19 said they had arrested four men over suspected ties to U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, believed to have been behind the July 15 failed coup attempt. 

The four are accused of an "abuse of power" while working for a mobile phone company for having passed on private information about subscribers and their call history, Azeri prosecutors said. 

During a search of the home of one of the accused, investigators discovered "religious literature, disks, brochures containing speeches by Fethullah Gülen and other documents," they said in a statement.    

Azerbaijan last month shut down a private television channel over plans to broadcast an interview with Gülen, "in order to avoid provocations aimed at damaging the strategic partnership between Turkey and Azerbaijan.”