ANKARA, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkish security forces have detained 361 individuals over the past two weeks in nationwide operations targeting the Gulen movement, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced Friday.
The coordinated raids spanned 46 provinces and focused on dismantling what officials described as the movement's remaining structures in the military, finance, education, and other sectors.
The suspects are accused of maintaining contact with senior figures in the network, using the group's encrypted messaging app ByLock, promoting its ideology on social media, among others, the minister said in a post on social media X.
Yerlikaya also stated that individuals with finalized prison sentences and those previously wanted in connection with group-related cases were among those apprehended.
The minister emphasized the government's continued commitment to combating the network.
The Turkish government classifies the Gulen movement as a terrorist organization and holds it responsible for the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, in which more than 250 people were killed. The movement was led by Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lived in the United States from 1999 until his death in 2024.
In the years since the failed coup, Turkish authorities have arrested thousands of suspects accused of links to the Gulen movement. ■
