Turkey Detains 44 People Linked to US-Based Dissident
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkey's state-run news agency said police have carried out raids in 18 provinces, detaining 44 people linked to a dissident that has turned into President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Number 1 foe.
The Anadolu Agency says those detained in Tuesday's raids include regional administrators and former police chiefs suspected of acting "beyond their legal authority," the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
The raids come two days after the ruling party, which Erdogan founded, won a resounding victory in an election Sunday that restored its single-party rule.
The government has cracked down on followers of US-based dissident Fethullah Gulen since 2013, when prosecutors launched corruption probes into people close to Erdogan. Erdogan alleges that the corruption probes were part of an attempted coup. Prosecutors have labeled the movement a terrorist organization.