The operation against Alparslan Kuytul’s Furkan movement came less than a week after the arrest of the Süleymancılar leadership, intensifying concerns that Ankara is moving against religious networks that refuse political alignment with the government.
Turkey has launched a second major operation against an influential Islamic movement within a week, detaining Furkan movement leader Alparslan Kuytul, his wife and dozens of followers in a case involving allegations of organised crime, money laundering and fraud.
The raids on Wednesday, 19 August, followed an extensive operation against the Süleymancılar community, one of Turkey’s largest and oldest religious networks. Although the authorities insist that both investigations concern financial crimes rather than religious or political activity, their timing has raised questions about whether the government is attempting to dismantle conservative groups that remain independent of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s administration.
The Furkan operation was particularly controversial because it took place less than 24 hours after presidential chief adviser Oktay Saral publicly warned Kuytul that his “turn” would come.
Police from anti-terrorism and organised-crime units raided 49 locations in an Adana-centred operation extending across several provinces. Thirty-two people, including Alparslan Kuytul, his wife Semra Kuytul and reportedly one of his lawyers, were detained.
Five companies were placed under management trustees, including the nationally known Levent Börek food business. The other companies operate in tourism, transportation, construction and healthcare. Authorities also blocked hundreds of social-media accounts and websites associated with the movement.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said the investigation was based on complaints from alleged victims, witness testimony, financial analyses, bank transactions, digital material and other evidence.
The suspects face accusations of establishing and directing a criminal organisation, membership of that organisation, laundering criminal proceeds, aggravated fraud, forgery of official documents and violations of Turkey’s Tax Procedure Law.
Prosecutors allege that the movement collected unregistered money under the headings of zakat, sacrificial-animal contributions, Ramadan parcels, charitable donations and student assistance. The funds were allegedly channelled through businesses controlled by movement members.
Investigators also claim that some followers were used as nominal owners of companies and property. According to the prosecution, members were pressured to establish businesses in their names, allow their bank accounts to be used and transfer assets to people chosen by the movement’s leadership.
Properties and companies allegedly remained under the effective control of senior movement figures even when registered to different individuals.
The authorities further accuse the movement of placing systematic pressure on members who left the organisation, questioned its leadership or provided information to prosecutors. Some former followers were allegedly humiliated within the community or targeted through social media.
A court consequently ordered restrictions on 349 online accounts and websites connected to the movement. These reportedly included 14 YouTube channels, 15 Facebook accounts, 143 accounts on X, 91 Instagram accounts, 79 TikTok accounts and seven websites.
Gürlek rejected suggestions that the operation targeted religious belief. He said the investigation concerned specific criminal acts, financial evidence and alleged pressure on individuals—not the Furkan movement’s theology or lawful activities.
The movement, however, described the operation as politically directed. It said Kuytul and his wife were handcuffed without being shown a detention order and claimed that the arrest of Kuytul’s lawyer further demonstrated the unlawful nature of the proceedings.
Footage from Kuytul’s home showed him disputing the description of his detention in a police document. He objected to the word “captured,” pointing out that he had not attempted to flee and was found in his own home. The wording was subsequently changed to “detained.”
The political controversy centres on statements Kuytul made after the 13 August operation against the Süleymancılar community.
Kuytul argued that the Süleymancılar had been targeted because they had refused to support the government and had previously backed the opposition Republican People’s Party. He said he could not determine whether individual members had committed crimes but questioned why serious financial allegations appeared to emerge primarily against religious organisations opposed to the AKP.
“If the Süleymancılar had supported the AKP, I am as certain as my own name that this would not have happened to them,” Kuytul said.
He also urged the community not to surrender and accused the authorities of attempting to determine who should lead autonomous religious organisations.
Saral responded on 18 August with a sharply worded social-media message comparing religious organisations that challenged the state with the Gülen movement. Addressing Kuytul directly, he wrote: “Your water has heated up enough. You haven’t learned—your turn will come.”
The message was later deleted, but it circulated widely. Police arrived at Kuytul’s home before dawn the following morning.
The scale of the operation—including coordinated raids, financial measures, trusteeship orders and restrictions on hundreds of online accounts—indicates that the investigation must have been prepared before Saral published his warning. Nevertheless, the sequence has created the appearance that a senior presidential adviser possessed advance knowledge of impending judicial action or was openly encouraging it.
The Furkan raids came as the judicial process against the Süleymancılar continued to expand.
On 13 August, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered operations in 17 provinces against the network led by Alihan Kuriş. Detention warrants were issued for 49 suspects, while searches and seizures were conducted at 123 locations, including premises associated with 33 companies.
Thirty-eight suspects were eventually taken into custody. On 16 August, Kuriş and 31 others were remanded in prison, while six suspects—including a former member of Turkey’s Council of Judges and Prosecutors—were placed under house arrest.
The suspects face allegations of directing or belonging to a criminal organisation, laundering criminal proceeds, defrauding public institutions and committing tax offences.
The investigation relies partly on a 168-page report prepared by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board, known as MASAK. Prosecutors claim that companies associated with the community experienced an unexplained increase in financial activity after 2020, underwent repeated divisions and ownership transfers and established high-capital subsidiaries despite limited commercial operations.
The report reportedly identified more than 66 billion Turkish liras in banking transactions. Other accounts referred to more than 100 billion liras in domestic and international money movements. These figures represent alleged transaction volumes and have not been judicially established as criminal proceeds.
Trustees were appointed to dozens of businesses associated with the network, including nationally recognised brands such as Ayakkabı Dünyası and Armine Giyim.
Investigators are also examining 191 properties allegedly connected to the Kuriş family. Media reports said a cheque worth $3 million and gold and jewellery valued at approximately 27.5 million liras were discovered during searches.
A separate investigation concerns the 2016 death of Arif Ahmet Denizolgun, a former transport minister and the previous leader of the Süleymancılar. Kuriş assumed control of the community after Denizolgun’s death, but the succession caused a lasting internal division.
Relatives of Denizolgun, including former AKP parliamentarian Fatih Süleyman Denizolgun, have accused Kuriş of taking control of the organisation illegitimately and alleged that the former leader’s death was suspicious.
On 19 August, prosecutors opened Denizolgun’s grave at Istanbul’s Karacaahmet Cemetery. His remains were sent to the Forensic Medicine Institute for a new examination intended to determine whether he died naturally or as a result of external intervention.
No evidence has yet established that Denizolgun was murdered or that Kuriş was involved in his death.
The two cases have brought the relationship between Erdoğan’s government and Turkey’s Islamic communities back into focus. The Süleymancılar operate an extensive network of Qur’an courses, student residences, associations and religious centres in Turkey and Europe. Unlike religious communities that developed close relationships with the AKP, the Kuriş-led network supported opposition candidates in several elections, including CHP candidates in the 2024 local contests.
Kuytul’s Furkan movement has also become known for its opposition to the government. Kuytul has repeatedly criticised Erdoğan’s policies and previously faced detention and prosecution in 2018 and 2022.
The authorities maintain that neither community is being investigated for its religious teachings. However, critics argue that the opaque financial structures common to many Turkish religious organisations allow the state to apply criminal and tax laws selectively when a community adopts an independent political position.
The emerging method does not require the formal prohibition of a religious movement. By detaining its leadership, transferring its companies to state-appointed trustees, blocking its communication channels and intervening in internal succession disputes, the authorities can severely weaken or restructure an organisation without outlawing its religious identity.
Both cases involve serious allegations that will require examination in court. Religious status cannot exempt any organisation from financial, criminal or tax law. At the same time, Saral’s public warning and the rapid succession of operations have damaged perceptions of judicial independence.
The wider message to Turkey’s religious communities appears unmistakable: organisations that maintain autonomous financial networks and mobilise their followers against the government may find themselves exposed to the full power of the security establishment and judiciary.
As of Wednesday evening, Kuytul and the other Furkan suspects remained in police custody. The next decisive development will be whether prosecutors request their formal imprisonment and whether the courts reproduce the outcome of the Süleymancılar case by remanding most of the movement’s senior leadership.
Illustration: AI generated