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Turkey: Senior Gulenists returned from Ukraine

January 6, 2021 at 4:13 pm

Turkish police stand guard in Istanbul, Turkey on 1 January 2017 [Kenzo Tribouillard/IP3/Getty Images]

Turkey has brought back suspected Gulenists from the Ukraine, Anadolu reported the Interior Ministry announcing today.

In a statement, the ministry said that Salih Fidan and Samet Gure, who are the group’s chiefs in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Erbil, respectively, were arrested while trying to illegally traverse the Ukraine-Poland border.

A Turkish court had issued arrest warrants for both men over their suspected membership in the Gulenists Group, which Turkey believes was behind the failed 2016  coup attempt, the statement added.

The suspects are currently in the capital Ankara, where they are being processed at the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

According to Ankara, Gulenist members headed by their US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of 15 July 2016, which left 251 people dead and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses Gulenists of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

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