Four Turkish businessmen held in ‘parallel state’ probe

KAYSERI, Turkey

Four Turkish businessmen have been detained as part of an investigation into the "parallel state".

Four senior executives of Boydak Holding were held early Friday morning in the central province of Kayseri, local police said.

Officers started searching the suspects’ houses as well as the company headquarters.

Executive Board Chairman Haci Boydak and his younger brother, CEO Memduh Boydak, are accused of being members of and providing financial support to the “parallel state", while two other executives -- Murat Boydak and Erol Boydak -- are accused of spreading propaganda for the organization on social media.

Memduh Boydak was among 11 people detained in another anti-parallel state operation in September 2015. They were charged with organized grand larceny.

Boydak, who was then also serving as chairman of the board of trustees at Kayseri’s Meliksah University, was released later under supervision along with six other senior figures at the university and Boydak Holding.

Memduh Boydak also faced charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in December 2015.

Known also by the initials FETO/PDY, 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.