Turkish police on Friday detained a total of 353 people, including civil servants, suspected of providing funds to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which mounted a defeated yet bloody coup in July 2016.
The suspects were captured in raids across 31 cities, including southern Antalya province, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on X.
They are charged with using a döner kebab restaurant chain to raise money for the terrorist group, according to the minister.
The franchise gave illegitimate partnership shares to people linked to FETÖ for a certain sum and refused to award said shares to people not referred by the terrorist group, Yerlikaya said.
The franchise used a system called “Referance-Based Growth” to mark the FETÖ referenced individuals and based it on organizational trust without any official documentation.
All branches of the chain were used to create jobs for FETÖ-linked people and funnel funds to the group, including “himmet” rates. "Himmet" is the name FETÖ gave to donations to the group or cash obtained through extortion.
In order to avoid tracking, illegal shareholders passed the money through FETÖ-linked shops such as jewelry stores via a consignment method.
The franchise firm grew its business abroad with new branches, which eased the transfer of money to FETÖ members outside Türkiye.
Yerlikaya said the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) found the restaurant company was financed by people in and outside Türkiye who did not undergo any criminal proceedings. The said money transfers were billed as “product purchases” and forwarded to FETÖ members.
Restaurants were used to host organizational meetings among both wanted and FETÖ-linked people. In order to enhance their loyalty, certain sums were distributed among FETÖ-linked people. If some wanted to leave the partnership, they were told that the business had a “spiritual dimension,” was founded to support the organization and had duties such as sending money to FETÖ members and increasing commitment to the terrorist group.
“Our fight against terrorist groups’ financial sources continues ceaselessly,” Yerlikaya said, thanking security forces and the prosecutors who coordinated the operations.
The ministry has assigned a trustee to the franchise firm.
FETÖ has faced increased scrutiny following the coup attempt that killed 251 people and injured nearly 2,200 others. Tens of thousands of people were detained, arrested or dismissed from public sector jobs following the attempt under a state of emergency.
The terrorist group faces operations almost daily as investigators still try to unravel their massive network of infiltrators everywhere, but an unknown number of FETÖ members, mostly high-ranking figures, fled Türkiye when the coup attempt was thwarted.
