126 Due to Gülen connections in the examination in the Döner restaurant chain

The Turkish courts last week 126 out of more than 350 people as part of an examination of a popular restaurant chain of kebab about alleged connections to the faith movement, according to Turkish media reports.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced the operation last Friday and claimed that the prisoners – including six business partners of the company, his employees and 10 officials – were involved in the financial support of the group.

The Gülen movement, which has suffered a relentless approach of the Turkish government in the past ten years, has been exposed to the government with various accusations, including the investigation of corruption in 2013 and an attempt to coup in July 2016.

In May 2016, the Turkish government described the Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen and his movement as terrorists. The movement, inspired by the views of the Gülen, who died in Pennsylvania last October, emphasizes the allegations.

The number of prisoners initially was 353, but later rose to 372 after the operations in 32 provinces. Of these, 126 – including four officials – were officially arrested, while 156 were released under judicial supervision.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, the operation against the restaurant chain, led by the public prosecutor's office of the public prosecutor's office of Antalya in the southern Turkey, began one and a half years ago. According to reports, the investigation was reported on the basis of allegations of a former employee, who as R.Ö. was identified. in the Turkish media.

R.Ö., who worked as a waiter in one of the restaurants, reported a complaint to the Presidential Communication Center (C.1), a state platform for public complaints. He claimed that he was hired based on the reference of a person who was connected to the Gülen movement and claimed that civil servants who were rejected by government regulations after the coup attempt had regularly held meetings at his workplace.

The company founded by businessman Ömer Şeyhin in 2018 grew quickly and opened more than 400 restaurants in Turkey and in several countries.

According to the Turkish authorities, the company operated unofficial partnerships in exchange for payments as part of a franchise system that were supposedly examined for Gülen links. According to reports, these new partners reported references from the movement. The authorities claim that franchise locations have granted employment and financial support to the Gülen-connected persons, with some of the income being addressed to the group.

Further investigations by the Turkey's Financial Crimes Investigation Board (Masak) allegedly found that the company was financed by people without a criminal register, which disguised these transactions as “product purchases” in order to transfer money to alleged Gülen members.

Since then, the Turkish government has appointed 22 franchise locations from Maydonoz Doner after the detains, a practice that was used after the 2016 coup attempt to confiscate companies associated with the Gülen movement.

In the meantime, the company gave a statement on Tuesday in which it continues to work without interruption after the appointment of trustees. It also added that the company's new Board of Directors took measures to “prevent commercial activities from being interrupted in our 416 branches”.

The operation is part of a more comprehensive approach to alleged Gülen supporters, whereby the government continues to appeal to individuals and companies that are suspected of being connected to the group.

Since the coup attempt, at least 705,172 people have been examined due to terrorism or coup d'état due to their alleged connections to the movement. There are currently at least 13,251 people in prison based on pre-judicial imprisonment or convictions in connection with terrorism in Gülen-linked legal proceedings.

A report in the past year entitled “Persacement confiscation in the amount of crimes against humanity: Case of the Gülen Group” revealed the great expansion of real estate orders in Turkey, which aimed at moving, with an estimated value of $ 50 billion And over 1.5 million people affected in the authors, they call systematic and widespread violations of domestic and international law that “crimes against humanity ”.