Report challenges assessments of Turkey’s crackdown on Gülen movement

A new report by Professor Emeritus Johan Vande Lanotte suggests that the crackdown in Turkey against individuals linked to the Gülen movement has shifted in nature rather than diminished. While official statistics show a decline in the number of annual operations and detentions compared to the period immediately following the 2016 coup attempt, the report argues these figures may be misleading.

According to the findings, authorities are increasingly targeting everyday activities, such as social contacts, financial assistance, and employment, as evidence of the movement’s alleged reorganization. In 2025, the report recorded 342 operations and 4,386 detentions. The analysis suggests that the actual number of detentions may be at least twice the reported figures.

The report challenges European asylum assessments, particularly in countries like the Netherlands, which have used declining prosecution numbers to evaluate asylum claims from alleged movement members. Vande Lanotte argues that these assessments rely on outdated patterns from 2016–2019 and fail to account for the more subtle, targeted nature of recent judicial actions.