Turkey raids private businesses in post-coup crackdown

Turkish financial police sparked early in the morning a large operation in Istanbul, first megacity of Turkey, against companies suspected of links with Fethullah Gülen, according to media.

Turkish authorities have pointed the finger of blame at Gulen and his supporters in the army for the July 15 military action seeking to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power.

Turkey has sought Gulen’s extradition from the US, which has asked for evidence against the cleric’s role in the coup plot against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who heads the Islam-rooted Justice and Development Party.

Turkish authorities accuse him of working to infiltrate the state’s institutions and creating a parallel state.

The new letter adds titles to an existing list of books, CDs, DVDs and materials linked to Gulen that have been banned as “terrorist propaganda” in accordance with an order by an Istanbul court.

Some 35,000 people have been detained for questioning and more than 17,000 of them have been formally arrested to face trial, including soldiers, police, judges and journalists.

Meanwhile, five Turkish police officers and two civilians were killed on Monday in a vehicle bombing outside the southeastern city of Diyarbakir blamed on Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels, the government said.

Warrants had been issued for 173 judicial staff, of whom 136 were detained in the raid, the state-run Anadolu agency said.

Some 240 people died resisting the coup on 15 and 16 July, as rebel parts of the military tried to seize control of Turkey, sending tanks into Ankara and Istanbul.

Yildirim on Tuesday called for a fair trial instead of the death penalty for suspected coup plotters, in comments seen as softer after Erdogan had suggested that the government could bring back capital punishment.

One factor that may dissuade the United States authorities from extraditing him is that the Turkish parliament is expected to consider bringing back the death penalty. “We are not going to show anyone any mercy”, he said.

Turkey is also seeking more than 30 diplomats who fled to other countries after they were recalled to Ankara as part of the post-coup investigation.