Turkey raids businesses in coup attempt investigation

ISTANBUL, Turkey, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Turkish police raided 51 businesses Tuesday and are looking to arrest 120 business executives suspected of financially aiding an organization it believes responsible for the July coup attempt.

Companies in eastern Istanbul, including major Turkish businesses such as technology company Akfa Holding and the A101 supermarket chain, were visited by police, and at least 51 people, including Akfa CEO Fatih Aktas, were arrested. Arrest warrants were issued for another 70 people, most of them high-ranking business executives.

The raids came a day after courthouses were similarly swept, and police issued warrants for the arrests of 173 justice officials.

The purge comes after about 240 people died in the military coup attempt in July. More than 26,000 people were arrested after parts of the military tried to take control of the country, and another 82,000 were dismissed or suspended from their positions, most of them government workers and school employees. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Ergodan is attempting to crush the influence of a movement led by Fethullah Gulen, which he claims is a terrorist organization intent on overthrowing the government.

The police are concentrating on Akfa Holding because of suspicions that some employees helped in money transfers to some Gulen-aligned groups in the United States and Canada. Erdogan has demanded the extradition from the United States of Gulen, 75, a cleric who resides in Pennsylvania. Gulen is accused of leading a campaign to infiltrate the Turkish military, police, and judiciary to form a "parallel state."

Reluctance on the part of the United States to extradite Gulen has soured U.S.-Turkish relations, and is thought to be a factor in Turkey's recent rapprochement with Russia.