5 Arrested In "parallel State" Operation In Konya

- Five of 18 suspects who were sent to court on May 23 have been arrested in a “parallel state” operation launched by prosecutors in the Central Anatolian province of Konya.

The five included the former head of the Konya Police Department’s Office for Trafficking and Organized Crimes, Anadolu Atayün, as well as police officers Yücel Ö. and Kerim D., businessman Naim Ç. and a former general manager of an educational institution allegedly linked to the “parallel structure” under the purported control of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fetullah Gülen. The 13 others were released after testifying in court.

More than half of the 43 people arrested in the operation against Gülen-linked police officers and education officials suspected were released on May 23, police said.

Some 25 suspects, including the ex-rector of Mevlana University, Bahattin Adam, former High Educational Board (YÖK) deputy head Şaban Çalış, former Bingöl police chief Ercan Taştekin and former Ağrı Police Department airport chief Arif Aykut, were released on May 23, while 18 were sent to court.

The Konya Prosecutor’s Office ordered the detention of 66 suspects in 19 provinces on charges of being a member of a criminal organization on May 22. Police were searching for the remaining 23 suspects, including former Konya provincial police chief Salih Tuzcu and S.C., the head of the Active Businessmen and Industrialists Association.

The arrests were the latest in a campaign of parallel state operations that has seen hundreds arrested for links to the Gülen movement since last summer.

The group and its followers are accused of orchestrating a corruption probe which, according to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and President Tayyip Erdoğan, targeted high-ranking Turkish officials in December 2013 in a bid to overthrow the government.

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