ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s state-run news agency says police have detained 12 academics, businesspeople and journalists as part of an investigation into an association that was headed by a jailed prominent businessman and activist.
Anadolu Agency said professors Betul Tanbay and Turgut Tarhanli of Istanbul’s Bosphorus and Bilgi universities were among those detained in simultaneous police operations in the city early on Friday.
They are being questioned over their links to the Anatolia Culture Association founded by Osman Kavala, a philanthropist businessman who was arrested a year ago accused of crimes against the state. No indictment has been issued against him.
Since an attempted coup in 2016, Turkey has arrested thousands of people for alleged links to terror groups, purged many more from state institutions and jailed dozens of journalists.
The Associated Press
