Turkish police launch huge operation against 'parallel structure'

A new and broad police operation into the so-called ?parallel structure,? members of the Gülen movement that had allegedly infiltrated the judiciary and security forces, was launched on Jan. 20. The operation was staged in relation to a probe into unlawful wiretapping of both crypto-secure and regular telephones belonging to top civilian and military leaders, including President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an.

Former deputy president of the Telecommunications Directorate (T?B) Osman Nihat ?en, former president of the Information Systems Department at the T?B ?lhan Elieyio?lu, and Hasan Palaz, the former president of the Informatics and Information Security Research Center (B?LGEM), which works under Turkey?s top science watchdog, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜB?TAK), are among the 28 people who were issued arrest warrants in the operation, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.

In the probe conducted by prosecutor Harun Ceylan of the Gölba?? Office of Chief Prosecutor, it was found that crypto and regular telephones belonging to Erdo?an; Constitutional Court President Ha?im K?l?ç; Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu; Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel and Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Ar?nç, as well as other members of the National Security Council (MGK), were unlawfully wiretapped, the agency said.

The headquarters of the T?B are located in the Gölba?? district of Ankara. In late December 2014, Transport Minister Lütfi Elvan announced a plan to move the T?B?s headquarters because its operations at the headquarters before the start of a large graft probe in December 2013 were unknown to the government.

In Ankara, 19 people have already been taken into custody as part of the Ankara-based operation, which also...