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."
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