IZMIR
The number of suspected policemen detained as part of the latest "parallel state" operation since Tuesday reached 22 after two more police officers surrendered to authorities on Thursday.
Earlier, 20 policemen, detained on charges of being involved in an illegal wiretapping case, were referred to court for questioning.
Warrants were issued for the suspected policemen in Izmir and other provinces, including the capital Ankara as well as Istanbul, Denizli, Erzurum, Malatya, Mus, Trabzon, Hakkari and Sirnak provinces.
Izmir’s prosecutor office had said the operation was launched after it received complaints from citizens that their communications were illegally intercepted by, what the Turkish government calls, the "parallel state."
According to the Izmir governorate, 92 people, including high-ranking army officers, academics, senior policemen and journalists, were illegally wiretapped between 2009 and 2013.
This is not the first time such an operation to detain suspects in the case has been launched in the country.
Earlier in 2014, a similar operation was launched in Izmir and 13 other provinces in which 32 suspects were detained after a newspaper story revealed that several public servants were being illegally wiretapped. All the suspects were later released by the court pending trial.
To date, hundreds of police officers have been detained and questioned in the alleged wiretapping probe.
The continued operations follow a December 2013 probe which led to the arrest of several high-profile figures, including the sons of three former government ministers and leading business people. All those detained in the operation were later released pending trial.
The government has blamed the wiretapping case on the Gulen movement, led by U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, which is also accused of attempting to infiltrate the Turkish state.
The parallel state, according to the government, refers to an alleged group of Turkish bureaucrats and senior officials embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and the police who are working to undermine the sitting Turkish government.
The Gulen movement denies all charges.
