Turkish authorities have seized 784 companies with a total asset value of TL 42.3 billion at the time of their takeover, an estimated $14 billion in 2016 USD terms, as part of a sweeping crackdown on the faith-based Gülen movement that followed a failed coup in 2016, according to new figures published by the state-run Anadolu news agency.
More than 250 people died during the events on the night of July 15, 2016, which the government claimed was an attempt by military officers to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Today marks the ninth anniversary of the coup attempt.
Erdoğan immediately accused the Gülen movement, inspired by Muslim preacher Fethullah Gülen, of orchestrating the abortive putsch.
Gülen, who lived in self-imposed exile in the United States until his death in October 2024, strongly denied any involvement and called for an independent international investigation, a demand that was never met.
Since then, the Turkish government has pursued an aggressive campaign against real and perceived members of the movement, arresting more than 100,000 people.
The data reported by Anadolu also reveal that Turkish authorities shut down 934 schools, 109 student dormitories, 104 foundations, 1,125 associations, 15 universities and 19 labor unions over alleged ties to the movement. The seizures were carried out by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), which has operated as the government’s primary tool for expropriating companies and institutions linked to the faith-based group.
In addition to the corporate seizures, the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) reported that by the end of 2024, Turkey had frozen the assets of 703 people and sought international cooperation to target 241 others abroad. The total value of frozen domestic assets comprises 5.5 billion Turkish lira, $2.45 million, €282,000 and 106 grams of gold, along with 851 properties, 66 vehicles, one yacht and 132 business registrations.
MASAK has also shared intelligence with its foreign counterparts regarding 559 individuals and legal entities as part of its effort to choke off the Gülen movement’s alleged financial networks.
While the Turkish government claims it is pursuing a legitimate national security threat, critics argue that the seizures and mass detentions have served as a means of political repression, wiping out an entire civil and business ecosystem associated with the movement. Rights groups have described the actions as collective punishment, while some former officials and commentators have used terms like “genocide” in reference to the scale and intensity of the crackdown.
Since 2016, MASAK has submitted 83,091 financial analysis files to judicial authorities, involving more than 324,000 individuals and legal entities, the agency reported.
Although Anadolu’s latest report states that 784 companies with a combined asset value of 42.3 billion Turkish lira were seized, previous data reported by InstituDE in 2023 put the total value of assets seized over Gülen links at $50 billion. This much higher figure likely includes not only corporate assets seized after the 2016 coup attempt but also assets taken over before 2016, properties of people not counted under TMSF’s management and potentially a broader accounting of cumulative asset values. The true financial toll of the crackdown may far exceed the subset acknowledged in Anadolu’s most recent report.