67 Turkish police officers arrested accused of spying Erdogan

At least 67 police officers involved in an investigation into alleged corruption in the government have been arrested during Tuesday early morning in Turkey on suspicion of spying and making illegal recordings, as reported by the Office of the Prosecutor Istanbul.

Most of those arrested Tuesday are senior officials, including two former heads ATU Istanbul, and is about policemen who were part of the case of alleged corruption that came to light last December, forced the resignation of four ministers and came splashing to own prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The raids on Tuesday, conducted in 22 provinces, respond to two different cases launched by the prosecution. One is looking at 76 officers, of which 52 have been arrested for allegedly fabricating a false investigation into an alleged terrorist group called selam-tevhid, to take advantage and tap the phones of Erdogan, several ministers and the head of the Intelligence services. Then, another 39 police officers are accused of making illegal recordings of deputies, judges and journalists, among others, and at least 15 of these agents have been arrested Tuesday.

From mid-December and for several months they appeared on the Internet a series of recordings that allegedly involving members of the government in cases of bribery, fraud and illegal operations. In one of these recordings, one could hear Erdogan reportedly arguing with one of his sons how to hide an amount that could reach 700 million euros. Erdogan has always denied that conversations are real, and the accuracy of the recordings could not be verified.

In addition, the prime minister and other government officials have accused the network of Islamist cleric Fetulá Gulen, U.S. resident since 1999, of being behind the corruption scandal with the aim of harming the Executive. Gulen is a former ally of Erdogan since 2011 but their positions have drifted apart.

Many in Turkey believe that Gulen followers have influential positions in the security forces, the judiciary and intelligence services. And indeed, from December, the government has launched a series of purges by the thousands of police, prosecutors and judges, many of them involved in the investigation into the scandal, have been removed from their posts.

Erdogan, expected to be elected president in presidential elections scheduled for August 10, has referred to the alleged presence of followers of Gulen in these bodies as “a parallel state ” within the state, which the cleric and his followers always have denied and that the prime minister has even proposed dismantling.

Last Sunday, in conversations with reporters at his official plane, Erdogan revealed the creation of a new position in the Judiciary, called “super judges” to administer the legal case to be initiated against the Gulen network.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=46706

Posted by Irfan Khokhar on Jul 23 2014. Filed under Latest News, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.