UPDATE - Turkish police raid 51 FETO-linked companies

UPDATES NUMBER OF RAIDED COMPANIES AND DETAINED PEOPLE

By Alptekin Soykan, Halil Demir and Filiz Kınık

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkish police on Tuesday detained at least 51 people in Istanbul after simultaneous raids on 51 companies suspected of providing financial support to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), a security source said.

The Istanbul Counter-Financial Crimes Branch Directorate carried out the operations in companies, including Akfa Holding and A101 supermarket chain, in the Uskudar and Umraniye districts with riot police support.

Speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, the source said that arrest warrants were issued for a total of 120 people, of which 50 people, including Fatih Aktas, chairman of Akfa holding, were detained.

Police said 7 people abroad and search is being carried out for 63 people. The detainees working at Akfa Holding reportedly helped “himmet money” transfers between 2011 and 2015 via Bank Asya to some organizations in the US and Canada.

Himmet refers to money collected as charity from followers of the Gulen movement. A wave of detentions following the coup attempt has seen around 26,000 people arrested across Turkey.

Senior business figures, as well as members of the military, police, judges, prosecutors and teachers, have been among those targeted.

Turkey's government has said the defeated coup, which left 240 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured, was organized by followers of Fetullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, and his FETO network.

Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.

*Bahattin Gonultas contributed to this report from Ankara.