INTERPOL denies blocking Turkey from access to organizational database
On July 5, it was published that an Interpol spokesperson has denied reports appearing on the Turkish Internet that the organization has blocked Turkish access to the organizational database due to the revolutionary attempts in Turkey in the second half of July, 2016, when the authorities tried to upload a wanted list containing 50,000 movement supporters of Fethullah Gülen. The reports stated that for a year, Turkey has been attempting to change the organization’s decision to upload the file to the organizational system, which has refused with the claim that the file is too large, and that Turkey’s attempt to upload the file a year ago may have generated security problems.
The spokesperson stated that the organization supports all 190 of its member countries and that there is no prohibition of Turkish access to the organizational database, including database searches with international search warrants.
It was also reported that subsequent to the revolutionary attempt, the Turkish authorities have arrested 154,694 individuals – 50,136 of these arrests being due to contacts with Gülen’s movement.
