Eight people including the president of a private university and a former undersecretary were detained yesterday for their links to the Gülenist Terror Organization (FETÖ). The detentions were the latest in a wave of operations against the group accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

Professor Mehmet Ateş, who heads Şifa University, and Fatih Acar, a former undersecretary at the Labor and Social Security Ministry, were detained in a police operation in the northwestern city of Bursa and brought to the western city of İzmir for interrogation. İzmir police have been conducting operations this week against FETÖ members on charges of corruption. Ateş, the head of İzmir-based Şifa University, was wanted for "obtaining illicit gains" by selling public properties to FETÖ-linked individuals for low prices. Acar faces the same charges while police detained two İzmir representatives of the state-run Social Security Agency (SGK) earlier this week as part of the same case. Police also launched a manhunt to capture Professor Şerif Ali Tekalan, former president of Fatih University, another institute of higher learning affiliated with the Gülenists.

The Gülen Movement, which the FETÖ originated from, is known for running a vast network of schools in Turkey and other countries. Şifa and Fatih are only two universities among dozens across the country owned and run by Gülen-linked companies and people.

Prosecutors claim Şifa University acquired a large plot of land owned by the SGK for a very low price, thus helping the FETÖ profit from the sale.

The FETÖ is accused of two attempts to topple the government in 2013, along with a series of wrongdoings, ranging from illegal wiretapping to money laundering. The group's immense clout in Turkey, where it allegedly has infiltrators within the police, judiciary and bureaucracy, helped fuel their evolution from a simple religious group into an ambitious organization with political motives.