An Istanbul prosecutor ordered a “secret” investigation against family
members of 19 journalists, accused of links to the Gulen movement, according to
an internal correspondence within Turkish bureaucracy, revealed
Monday by journalist Abdullah Bozkurt.
Screenshots of the prosecutor’s order, dated Dec 19, 2016, and a
subsequent response from Istanbul police on Jan 24, 2017 show that the
investigation targeted parents, children and spouses of 19 journalists: Ahmet
Altan, Nazlı Ilıcak, Ekrem Dumanlı, Fevzi Yazıcı, Bülent Keneş, Kerim Balcı,
Alaaddin Kaya, Ali Çolak, Emre Uslu, Tuncay Opçin, Mehmet Baransu, Faruk
Kardıç, Mehmet Kamış, Mehmet Altan, Osman Özsoy, Yakup Şimşek, Tibet Murat
Şanlıman, Şemseddin Efe and Şükrü Tuğrul Özşengül.
The prosecutor requested police to investigate the family members’ digital
communication history, banking transactions and their personal ties, if any, with
“people who are subject to investigation over Gulen links across the country.”
Police is asked to provide individual report for each and every family
member specified in the correspondence. The list includes over 50 family
members in total.