Turkey: 38 more arrested in anti-'parallel state' raids

By Halil Demir

ISTANBUL

Police arrested 43 suspects in simultaneous operations against the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO)/Parallel State Structure (PDY) across 28 Turkish provinces on Tuesday, unnamed police sources said.

The operations are part of an investigation launched by the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office, which on Monday issued arrest warrants for 140 people, including Bank Asya employees, FETO/PDY executives, and businessmen.

Police sources, who spoke to Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, said six people were remanded in custody, while arrest warrants were issued for 58 more people Tuesday for reportedly forming a terrorist organization, membership in a terrorist organization, and illegal wiretapping.

The 43 people arrested Tuesday included one journalist, three lawyers, one businessman, and 38 policemen. On Monday, police arrested 100 people in Istanbul and nine other provinces across Turkey.

Described as the “parallel state”, the FETO/PDY is said to be behind the December 2013 corruption investigation into senior Turkish government figures, including ex-ministers.

The FETO/PDY group is headed by U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen, who runs a network of schools and commercial enterprises in Turkey and around the world.

Gulen is also the main suspect in the investigation of mass wiretapping of Dec. 17 and 21, 2013, which targeted more than 7,000 people.

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

* Anadolu Agency's Ilgin Karlidag contributed to this report from Istanbul.