Prosecutor demands arrests in Gülen financial links probe

ISTANBUL

An Istanbul court sent nine suspects, reportedly former employees of Islamic lender Bank Asya, to court with demands for their arrest on April 20, while it released 18 others in a probe into the financial links of Fethullah Gülen sympathizers.

Some 17 other suspects were also sent to court with demands for legal control. 

The 44 suspects were detained as part of a large police operation on the group, with more than 100 people being detained earlier this week. 

Charges against the suspects include “being a member of the Fetullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ)/ Parallel State Structure (PDY),” “providing finance for the terror group,”  “propagating for the terror group” and “money laundering.” 

The suspects were also charged with collecting money for Bank Asya, founded by followers of Gülen and seized by the government last year, and forcing people to subscribe to particular Gülen-supporting newspapers. 

The total of 107 detentions in nine provinces across Turkey also covered business people other than other than the 44 detained Bank Asya employees. 

Four women with little children and one seriously ill suspect were released initially in the wider operation, while the prosecutor then released 11 others. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) accuse Gülen and its followers of setting up a “parallel state” and conspiring to unseat the government with a network of supporters in the judiciary, police and media.