Turkey: 27 detained as part of 'parallel state' probe

ISTANBUL

Nine more police officers have been detained on Tuesday as part of a probe into the ‘parallel state’ in Turkey, bringing the total number of arrests to 27.

Police operations took place in 13 provinces, including Istanbul, Turkey’s capital Ankara, and the eastern provinces of Diyarbakir, Sanliurfa, Erzurum and Kars, police sources said.

The raids focused on high-ranking officials who are allegedly affiliated with the ‘parallel state,’ or Gulen movement.

The parallel state designates a clandestine group of Turkish bureaucrats and senior officials, allegedly embedded in the country’s institutions, including the judiciary and the police.

In the framework of investigations into ‘parallel state’ allegations which began on July 22, Istanbul Chief Public Prosecution Office ordered the detention of 28 police officers.

Former Istanbul Deputy Police Chief Hamza Tosun was not found at his address but the other 27 officers have been detained.

These include: the former head of branch of the General Security Directorate’s Smuggling and Organized Crime (KOM) Mehmet Yesilkaya; his deputy, Osman Balci; former branch director Alparslan Caliskan; former Istanbul deputy Branch Director for Combating Financial Crime Yasin Topcu; and police superintendent Mehmet Akif Uner.

The detainees are all alleged to be part of the ‘parallel state’ conspiracy headed by Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Islamic preacher who runs a network of schools and commercial enterprises in Turkey and around the world

Investigations into the parallel state since early 2014 have seen hundreds of civil servants, including police and public prosecutors, arrested or reassigned.