Turkish police teams on Monday carried out operations against members of the Furkan Foundation, which is critical of the Turkish government, and detained 23 of its members.
The operations, which were based in the southern Turkish province of Adana, were conducted across 10 provinces including Elazığ, Malatya, Ankara, Gaziantep, İstanbul, Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Konya and İzmir.
The detainees, who were taken into custody following simultaneous police raids, are reported to be responsible for the foundation’s financial and educational activities.
The Furkan Foundation has been facing growing pressure from the Turkish government due to the critical views of its president Alparslan Kuytul, in recent months.
Kuytul was arrested in February along with dozens of other members of the foundation.
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Kuytul and the other detainees are reportedly accused of disrupting the public order and establishing a criminal organization and are under investigation by the Adana Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Kuytul is also facing charges of insulting the president and inciting the public to hatred in two other investigations in which he faces seven years in prison.
In February an Adana court appointed a trustee to the Furkan Foundation.
Since a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, trustees have been appointed to hundreds of companies and dozens of municipalities and foundations due to these institutions’ alleged terror or coup links.
