MERSIN, Turkey
A candidate in Turkey’s recent general election has surrendered to police and will testify in court as part the country’s long-running ‘parallel state’ case.
Ali Ihsan Kaya, a former police intelligence officer and Saadet Party candidate in Mersin, came to court on Monday to testify alongside two other former police wanted by the authorities.
Kaya, Ilyas Avci and Ilyas Isik surrendered in Turkey’s southern province of Mersin.
The three came to court to testify after arrest warrants were issued for them and four other people in Mersin last week during an ongoing ‘parallel state’ investigation.
The ‘parallel state’ is a purported group of Turkish bureaucrats and senior officials embedded in Turkey’s institutions, including the judiciary and police, who are allegedly trying to undermine the government.
Last Monday’s operation led to the detention of five other people in Mersin.
The suspects were charged of establishing an illegal organization to commit crimes, recording non-public conversation between people, violation of privacy, fabrication of crimes and forgery of documents.
Kaya, who spoke to reporters outside Mersin courthouse, said: “We waited for the election to come to an end and came to testify after having done my work.”
Kaya, whose Islamist party did not pass the Turkey’s 10 percent threshold, added that he had nothing to hide and was ready to “learn and testify against the accusations”.
