Two Turkish Policemen Held Over Alleged Bugging Operation

Two Turkish police officers, including the former chief of police, have been detained in Istanbul following their extradition from Bucharest on suspicion of illegally bugging the Turkish prime minister's office in 2014.



Former police chief Sedat Zavar and police officer Ilker Usta were taken into custody after arriving at Istanbul airport late on Saturday and are expected to appear in court in the Turkish capital of Ankara in the near future.



The pair are alleged to have fled abroad to avoid being questioned as part of an operation in Turkey to dismantle the "parallel state" -- an network of bureaucrats and senior officials embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and police, which the Turkish government claims are trying to undermine it.



The pair was extradited from Romania at the request of Turkey following a court ruling on March 20.



Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced in February that two members of the Turkish police force had been detained in Romania on suspicion of being involved in the bugging of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office during his tenure as prime minister before August 2014.



Romanian authorities had kept Zavar and Usta in detention as their legal case continued in the country.



Dozens of police officers have been detained and hundreds of others reassigned across Turkey in an ongoing operation against the "parallel state."



www.aa.com.tr/en - Ankara