Police detained several suspects, including a former university rector, in an operation against the Gülenist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) in southwestern province of Çanakkale on Saturday.
Security sources said that units from the Çanakkale Police Department launched an operation early in the morning and searched many houses and workplaces in the city.
Several businessmen along with Prof. Dr. Sedat Laçiner, the former Rector of Çanakkale Ondokuz Mayıs University (COMU), were detained for links with the illegal organization.
FETÖ, also known as the Parallel State Structure led by US-based so-called cleric Fethullah Gülen, is an illegal formation inside state institutions such as police forces and the judiciary. Members of the organization are accused of orchestrating a coup plot in late 2013 against then-Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan and his government, wiretapping hundreds of prominent figures and money laundering.
Detainees were taken to Çanakkale police headquarters for interrogation after medical checkup in Çanakkale Public Hospital.
