{"id":148754,"date":"2026-08-19T15:17:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/148754\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T15:17:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T15:17:42","slug":"turkey-detains-anti-govt-islamic-preacher-wife-in-morning-raids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/148754\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey detains anti-gov\u2019t Islamic preacher, wife in morning raids"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Turkish police on Wednesday detained outspoken Islamic cleric Alparslan Kuytul, his wife, Semra, and other members of the Furkan Foundation in coordinated raids across six provinces, one day after a senior adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan publicly warned that Kuytul would be targeted next.<\/p>\n

Counterterrorism police searched 49 locations as part of an investigation led by the Adana Chief Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office. Officers detained the couple following a search of their home in the southern province of Adana, where the foundation is based.<\/p>\n

Riot police and special operations teams surrounded the house during the operation. Kuytul\u2019s supporters gathered outside and chanted slogans, briefly arguing with officers.<\/p>\n

A video posted on Kuytul\u2019s X account showed police taking him away in handcuffs. A statement on the account claimed that he and his wife were detained without being shown any detention orders.<\/p>\n

19 A\u011fustos 2026 | Alparslan Kuytul Hocaefendi, e\u015fi Semra Kuytul Hocahan\u0131m ve Furkan Hareketi mensuplar\u0131 g\u00f6zalt\u0131 karar\u0131 olmamas\u0131na ra\u011fmen \u015fafak vakti g\u00f6zalt\u0131na al\u0131nd\u0131lar.<\/p>\n

AlparslanHoca G\u00f6zalt\u0131nda
FurkanHareketine Operasyon
SemraKuytul G\u00f6zalt\u0131nda#AdanaEmniyeti<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/m9FClZ4hep<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Furkan Hareketi (@furkanhareketi) August 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The Furkan movement said one of Kuytul\u2019s lawyers was also among those detained.<\/p>\n

Justice Minister Ak\u0131n G\u00fcrlek said prosecutors had begun legal proceedings against 32 suspects.<\/p>\n

The complete list of detainees has not yet been released.<\/p>\n

They are accused of establishing or leading a criminal organization, membership in the organization, laundering criminal proceeds, fraud, forgery of official documents and violations of tax law.<\/p>\n

G\u00fcrlek said courts had appointed trustees to five companies and blocked access to 349 social media accounts as part of the investigation.<\/p>\n

The minister described the investigation as targeting a group known publicly as the \u201cKuytul organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

He insisted that it was not directed at \u201cany religious group, belief or opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The operation came one day after Oktay Saral, a chief adviser to Erdo\u011fan, responded to Kuytul\u2019s criticism of a recent police operation against the S\u00fcleymanc\u0131lar, another Islamic community.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou still haven\u2019t come to your senses. Your turn will come!\u201d Saral wrote on social media, referring to Kuytul.<\/p>\n

He also used a Turkish expression warning Kuytul that \u201cthe water had heated up\u201d for him, meaning that he was about to face serious consequences.<\/p>\n

Kuytul had criticized the August 13 raids against the S\u00fcleymanc\u0131lar in a video posted two days later.<\/p>\n

He claimed the community was being punished for withholding political support from Erdo\u011fan\u2019s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe S\u00fcleymanc\u0131lar have not voted for the government for years. At one point they supported the CHP, I believe this was very important in the operation,\u201d Kuytul said, referring to the main opposition Republican People\u2019s Party.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they had supported the AKP, I am as certain as I am of my own name that this would not have happened to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Furkan movement said the raids a day after Saral\u2019s warning showed that the investigation had been launched on political orders. Turkish officials deny political interference in criminal cases and claim that the judiciary acts independently.<\/p>\n

Prominent human rights lawyer Eren Keskin also questioned the stated reasons for the operations against Furkan and the S\u00fcleymanc\u0131lar.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe certainly do not share the same worldview, but Alparslan Kuytul has taken an honorable stand,\u201d Keskin said on X. \u201cIt is very clear that the operations against the S\u00fcleymanc\u0131lar and the Kuytuls are intended to seize their companies and, consequently, their money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ayn\u0131 d\u00fcnya g\u00f6r\u00fc\u015f\u00fcne sahip olmad\u0131\u011f\u0131m\u0131z kesin ancak Alpaslan Kuytul\u2019un tavr\u0131 onurlu bir insan tavr\u0131. S\u00fcleymanc\u0131lar ve Kuytul\u2019lara y\u00f6nelik operasyonlar\u0131n \u015firketlerine dolay\u0131s\u0131yla paralar\u0131na \u2018el koyma\u2019 ama\u00e7l\u0131 oldu\u011fu \u00e7ok belli. https:\/\/t.co\/rzcvWun0qz<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Eren Keskin (@KeskinEren1) August 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Police carried out the earlier operation against the S\u00fcleymanc\u0131lar in 17 provinces, detaining community leader Alihan Kuri\u015f and dozens of other suspects. Prosecutors described the group under investigation as a criminal organization operating for financial gain. Kuri\u015f and 31 other suspects were later\u00a0jailed<\/a>\u00a0pending trial.<\/p>\n

The two operations within a week of each other have drawn attention to the government\u2019s treatment of religious communities that do not support the AKP. Both investigations include financial allegations, company takeovers and the appointment of government trustees.<\/p>\n

The Turkish government has used similar measures on a much larger scale during the long-running crackdown on the faith-based G\u00fclen movement.<\/p>\n

President Erdo\u011fan has targeted the G\u00fclen movement, a worldwide civic initiative inspired by the ideas of Muslim cleric Fethullah G\u00fclen, who died in 2024, since corruption investigations in December 2013 implicated him as well as some members of his family and inner circle. He dismissed the probes as a G\u00fclenist conspiracy and later designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016, intensifying a sweeping crackdown after the coup attempt in July of the same year that he accused G\u00fclen of orchestrating. The movement denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.<\/p>\n

According to a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0from Justice Minister G\u00fcrlek in July, an excess of 720,000 people have been investigated and more than 127,000 have been convicted in Turkey over alleged links to the G\u00fclen movement since the coup attempt.<\/p>\n

Government figures released in July also showed that Turkey had\u00a0placed<\/a>\u00a0784 companies under state trusteeship over alleged links to the movement.<\/p>\n

The Furkan Education and Service Foundation was established by Kuytul in 1994. The Islamist group has frequently criticized Erdo\u011fan\u2019s government and has faced repeated police intervention, administrative penalties and criminal investigations.<\/p>\n

In July 2025 authorities\u00a0sealed<\/a>\u00a0the group\u2019s Ankara headquarters and three local offices, accusing an affiliated association of operating unauthorized social facilities. The closures led to confrontations between police and Furkan supporters. Kuytul called the decision arbitrary and politically motivated.<\/p>\n

The US State Department also referred to the treatment of Furkan members in its\u00a02023 Report on International Religious Freedom<\/a>. The report said Turkish authorities had announced no further action in an investigation into alleged police violence against Furkan members at a 2022 demonstration demanding the release of eight people detained in a kidnapping case.<\/p>\n

According to Furkan Foundation members cited in the report, a 15-year-old was among those injured and required hospitalization. The report described Furkan as known for opposing Erdo\u011fan\u2019s political Islamist policies.<\/p>\n

Kuytul was released from pretrial detention under judicial supervision in June 2023 after being jailed in a case concerning the alleged abduction of a businessman in Adana. He faced accusations including instigating unlawful confinement, extortion, bodily harm and torture, all of which he denied.<\/p>\n

He was also jailed in 2018 after criticizing Turkey\u2019s military intervention in northern Syria and its offensive in Afrin. He was acquitted in that case in 2020.<\/p>\n

Kuytul says the government has targeted him because of his criticism of Erdo\u011fan, including his public opposition to the crackdown on the G\u00fclen movement. The government denies using criminal investigations to silence its critics.<\/p>\n

This article is republished from\u00a0Turkish Minute<\/a>.<\/p>\n