Turkey Detains Academics Linked to Jailed Activist
Turkish police on Friday detained several academics from two Istanbul universities linked with an association led by imprisoned human rights activist Osman Kavala, local media reported.
Professor Betul Tanbay of the prestigious Bogazici University and Professor Turgut Tarhanli of the private Bilgi University were among the detainees, the private NTV television reported.
The academics were members of Anadolu Kultur (Anatolian Culture) whose chairman Kavala has been jailed for more than a year but who has not yet been formally charged.
It was not immediately clear what charges the detained academics faced.
Opposition CHP party MP Sezgin Tanrikulu criticised the detentions on Twitter.
"Again a Friday, again detentions... Those who expect normalisation from this regime should continue to dream."
Kavala, a philanthropist and co-founder of the Iletisim publishing house and who is well-known in intellectual circles in Turkey and abroad, is suspected of "attempting to remove the constitutional order".
According to his lawyers, Turkish authorities suspect him of having links to the attempted overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 2016, as well as financing anti-government demonstrations during the Gezi protest movement in 2013.
Anadolu Kultur aims to overcome differences within Turkish society through culture and the arts.
Source: Agence France Presse
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