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Anti-Police Operation In Antalya Based On Pro-Gov't Media Stories

30.09.2014 18:03

The latest wave of anti-police operations, which resulted in the detention of 14 police officers on Monday, was staged as a result of stories that appeared in two pro-government newspapers, Today's Zaman has learned.The stories, which concern claims of illegal wiretapping that were allegedly carried.

The latest wave of anti-police operations, which resulted in the detention of 14 police officers on Monday, was staged as a result of stories that appeared in two pro-government newspapers, Today's Zaman has learned.

The stories, which concern claims of illegal wiretapping that were allegedly carried out by some members of the police force, were published by the Star and Sabah dailies on March 18. In the stories, the two dailies alleged that the “parallel structure,” a reference the government uses for the faith-based Hizmet movement, illegally wiretapped some 148,000 people in 30 provinces. Those wiretapped were allegedly police officers, judges and prosecutors.

According to the dailies, the “victims” were wiretapped under the pretext that they might be members of a terrorist or criminal group. The illegal wiretaps allegedly lasted for three years.

The dailies, however, did not provide any source or proof for their claims.

As a result of the stories, the counterterrorism unit of the Antalya Police Department carried out an operation on Monday and detained 14 members of the police force, who include police chiefs. Among those officers are Yavuz Dölek, deputy chief of the Antalya Police Department, and police chiefs Bülent Elaldı and Gökhan Tayuk.

Sources said the detained officers were members of a team that conducted operations against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) Amonos branch, which carries out terrorist activities in the Mediterranean and Southeast regions of Turkey, and in particular in the provinces of Hatay, Osmaniye and Kahramanmaraş.

In 2011, the team obtained intelligence about the activities of a group of PKK terrorists and captured seven members of the illegal group. The terrorists had killed six members of the Turkish military and four police officers in an attack in 2010. In addition, the team fought against drug smuggling.

Lawyer Osman Yengil told the media on Monday evening that the detained police officers are accused of carrying out wiretaps between 2011 and 2012, but all of the wiretaps were carried out legally -- as per orders by prosecutors and courts. “As far as I see, there is no evidence in this [investigation] file. Even though all wiretaps were carried out upon court orders, they are working to create an impression that the police officers were involved in an illegal activity,” the lawyer noted.

Monday's detentions came as a new wave of anti-police operations that have resulted in the arrest of approximately 60 police officers since the operations began on July 22.

Prosecutors say the anti-police operations were launched after allegations of spying and illegal wiretapping, but they are widely believed to be an act of government revenge for the Dec. 17, 2013 corruption and bribery operation and are seen as targeting the Hizmet movement.

After Dec. 17 and 25, three ministers resigned, while one other minister was expelled from the Cabinet. They are accused of receiving bribes and other irregularities.

Hizmet promotes interfaith dialogue and the resolution of problems through peaceful means throughout the world. However, Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) have recently been engaged in a bitter fight with the movement. This conflict intensified after Dec. 17 and 25. Erdoğan claims the operation was orchestrated by the Hizmet movement, which intended to overthrow his government. However, he has not provided any evidence to prove his claim. The movement denies the accusation.

Since Dec. 17, more than 40,000 police officers, civil servants, judges and prosecutors have been reassigned for no official reason other than having suspected links to the Hizmet movement. Critics have described the arbitrary reassignments as a “witch hunt.”

Cihat Ünal/Osman Yakut (Cihan/Today's Zaman)



 
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