Turkish authorities on Tuesday detained the fathers of several teenage girls who are defendants in the widely criticized “girls’ trial” over alleged links to the Gülen movement, a faith-based group inspired by the late cleric Fethullah Gülen, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported, citing the TR724 news website.
A total of 11 people were detained in İstanbul, five of whom were arrested after appearing in court. Another five were released under judicial supervision, with the requirement to check in with the local police station once a week. One detainee was released with no conditions. The suspects were accused of socializing with other people linked to the movement, and especially with individuals who were dismissed from their jobs by government decrees following a coup attempt on July 15, 2016. They were also accused of “organizing educational activities” for children whose families were linked to the movement.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the movement since corruption investigations revealed in 2013 implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan as well as some of his family members and inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and a conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan began to target the movement’s members. He designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016 and intensified the crackdown on it following an abortive putsch in July of the same year that he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
The girl’s trial involves an ongoing terrorism trial of 41 defendants, including 14 teenage girls, accused of having links to the movement. The girls were detained without access to lawyers or their parents and were reportedly threatened while in police custody.
Prosecutors argued that defendants’ ordinary activities such as attending Quran study groups, praying, organizing tutoring sessions, going bowling and having meals together indicate membership in a terrorist organization, citing more than 100 such “terrorist acts” in the indictment.
The court accepted the indictment on July 8, 2024.
The trial has drawn international criticism for treating routine religious and educational activities as evidence of terrorism and is part of a broader crackdown on individuals accused of ties to the Gülen movement.
Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized Turkey’s counterterrorism laws for their vague definitions and their use to target political dissidents, journalists and civil society members.