Breaking
25 detained in southeast Turkey for links to US based cleric
![Twenty-five people have been detained in southeastern Turkey for suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. (Photo by See page for author [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)])](https://canadianinquirer.net/v1/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Latrans-Turkey_location_Southeastern_Anatolia_Region.svg_.png)
Twenty-five people have been detained in southeastern Turkey for suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. (Photo by See page for author [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)])
Gaziantep governor’s office announced in a statement Thursday that more than 70 raids took place to apprehend 106 Gulen operatives called “secret imams.” They are being investigated for “membership in an armed terror organization and recruiting members.”
Forty-one suspects are still on the run, according to the statement. Others have already been arrested and five are abroad.
The raids are part of a massive crackdown following last summer’s failed coup attempt, which Turkey says was orchestrated by Gulen’s movement, leading to the arrest of more than 47,000 people. Gulen has denied the accusations.
On Wednesday, 1,120 “secret imams” accused of directing followers within the police were detained nationally. Some 9,000 police personnel were also temporarily suspended.
![See page for author [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALatrans-Turkey_location_Southeastern_Anatolia_Region.svg){kind=link}