Police launched simultaneous operations in five provinces on Friday to arrest 38 suspects who are accused of making money transfers on behalf of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).

The Istanbul-based raids - which also targeted locations in Ankara, Izmir, Bursa and Hatay - came after an Istanbul court issued an arrest warrant for the suspects as part of a probe into the group's financial network, a police source said.

The suspects are accused of transferring money and gold into the organization's affiliated establishments abroad through an association and two companies between 2011 and 2014.

The 38 suspects, who are either the executives or partners of the three Istanbul-based entities, are also accused of financing trips to Turkey for around 7,000 foreign students on behalf of the organization between 2003 and 2010.