17 detained on suspicion of providing financial support to Gülen terror organization

Turkish police detained 17 people on the suspicion of providing financial support to the Gülenist terror organization in Istanbul district Wednesday.

The police conducted an operation at an office in Istanbul's Üsküdar district after receiving a tip about a meeting to raise financial support to the Gülen movement under the name of 'charity'.

The officials detained 17 people, most of whom are businessmen and confiscated a large number of documents.

The Gülen Terror Organization is accused of conspiring against the state, wiretapping thousands of people-including government officials- and encrypting phones. The organization has been labeled a threat against the country's national security.

Government officials have continuously expressed their determination to continue to lawfully fight against the Gülen Terror Organization, which has been accused of trying to topple the democratically elected government through its operatives in the judiciary and the police.

Moreover, the organization has been defined along the lines of "civilian elements attempting to take over the state by unlawfully organizing within state institutions" in the Red Book, a legal document that contains the country's security threats, since January 2015.