F

oreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said on Thursday that two female Indonesian students were arrested on Aug. 11 in Daura, Turkey, for alleged links to the Hizmet movement led by Fethullah Gulen.

“The Indonesian Embassy in Ankara has tried to meet the students,” Arrmanatha said. “It has also prepared a lawyer to provide legal assistance to them.”

Earlier on June 3, Indonesian student Handika Lintang Saputra, 21, was arrested in Gaziantep on similar charges. The embassy has provided him with a lawyer, and he is currently awaiting a trial date.

“The embassy in Ankara has asked the prosecutor to expedite the court process,” Arrmanatha said. “The ministry has also summoned the Turkish chargé d’affaires to convey our concerns over the arrest of Indonesian students who received scholarships from PASIAD.”

The Foundation of Social and Economic Cooperation with Pacific Countries (PASIAD), is a foundation linked to Gulen’s movement.

More than 35,000 people have been detained in Turkey for alleged links to Gulen. About 17,000 of those people have been placed under formal arrest, and tens of thousands more suspended since the July 15 putsch in the country, which is believed to be related to Gulen and his followers.