Turkish police officers arrested over wiretapping
January 5, 2015
Police conducted raids on its own members in several Turkish cities at dawn on Monday, mainly in the east and southeast of the country. The detained police officers are accused of illegal wiretapping, forging documents and violating personal privacy
According to the state media, one of the targest of illegal eavesdropping was the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In addition, the government claims they are connected to a moderate islamic movement led by Erdogan's rival Fethullah Gulen.
The latest arrests are just the most-recent move in the government campaign against the supporters of U.S–based Muslim cleric Gulen. Dozens of policemen have already been arrested for allegedly eavesdropping on Erdogan and other important officials.
A trial for 13 people accused of setting up hidden microphones in order to spy on Erdogan opened last week. Among the accused are his former top bodyguard and the head of Erdogan's security department.
A 'coup attempt'
The suspicions of wiretapping are connected to a corruption scandal which first surfaced over a year ago. A series of allegedly incriminating recordings was published on the Internet, casting doubts on Erdogan's closest allies, family, and even the then-prime minister himself.
Erdogan has called the subsequent investigation, which led to several ministers stepping down, a "coup attempt", and claimed followers of Gulen to be behind the corruption probe and the recordings.
The now-president of Turkey also said that Gulen is setting up a "parallel state" within the state administration. The Turkish government had thousands of police officers, judges and prosecutors replaced.
In addition, a Turkish court issued an arrest warrant against the cleric, on suspicion of him leading a crime organization.
Gulen has denied involvement.
Ex-ministers to avoid trial
A Turkish parliamentary commission decided on Monday that the case of four ministers who resigned after the corruption scandal will not be sent to trial, according to the AFP news agency.
The former ministers of the interior, environment, economy and EU affairs were accused of taking bribes from an Iranian businessman, Reza Zarrab. All four of the politicians claim to be innocent.
The majority of the 15 members of the commission belong to the ruling AKP party.
dj/bw (AFP, Reuters, AP)