Arrests warrants issued for 29 Turkish policemen in probe

Arrest warrants for 29 police officers in a probe against the “parallel state” on charges of illegal wiretapping, espionage and forgery have been issued by an Istanbul prosecution office, Hurriyet Daily News reported on Monday.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Terror and Organized Crime Branch issued arrest warrants for 29 police officers in 20 provinces against the “parallel state” allegedly led by self-exiled Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives in the US.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused Gülen and his supporters in the judiciary and police of seeking to establish a “parallel state” and of orchestrating a corruption investigation targeting Erdoğan’s inner circle in December 2013 as part of a coup attempt.

The 29 police officers face charges of “espionage, forgery, illegal wiretapping, saving personal data and attempting to distract the Turkish Republic from its duties.”

An operation has been launched to detain the 29 suspects, including former Istanbul Deputy Chief of Police Mahir Çakallı and Istanbul’s Organized Crime Department Chief Nazmi Ardıç.