A picture of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen set up on a dummy at the Kizilay Square in front of a Turkish national flag in Ankara during a protest against the failed military coup, on August 2, 2016.

:: Turkish spies working in Sudan have repatriated a businessman accused of links to wanted Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen after he was caught in a joint operation, state media reported Monday.

Memduh Cikmaz is accused of giving millions to the movement run by US-based Gulen, who Ankara claims ordered the July 15, 2016 attempt to end President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rule.

Cikmaz was captured in a joint operation involving Sudanese intelligence after the Turkish National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) located him two months earlier, security sources told Anadolu news agency.

Cikmaz, with business interests in petrol stations and brick factories, was returned to Turkey early on Monday, the agency said.

He had gone to Sudan in January 2016 but sources told Anadolu he continued to send millions of dollars to the movement.

Cikmaz was accused of “managing an armed terror organization” in a previous arrest warrant. Anadolu described him as the Gulen group’s “money vault”.

The agency said MIT had created a special team to locate suspected Gulenists abroad.

Turkey refers to Gulen’s group as the “Fethullah Terrorist Organisation” (FETO) but the movement insists it is peaceful and promotes education, denying any terror links.

Its network stretches from Turkey to Africa and Central Asia to the United States.

Gulen denies Turkey’s accusations of involvement in last year’s failed coup.

Ankara launched a widespread crackdown on the group, arresting more than 50,000 people over alleged links since July last year.

During high-level diplomatic visits, Ankara has also urged Pakistan and Tanzania to crackdown on the Gulen network, especially its schools.