Update - Turkey Detains 18 İn 'Parallel State' Operation

Two police officers wanted on charges of being involved in an illegal wiretapping case surrendered to authorities in western Izmir province Wednesday, bringing the total number of suspects detained to 18.



The two police officers denied the accusations against them in their comments to the media.



Police began the new operation to detain suspects involved in the case in Izmir and 12 other provinces Tuesday. Izmir's prosecutor office had said the operation was launched after it received complaints from people that their communications were illegally intercepted by, what the Turkish government calls, the "parallel state."



According to the Izmir governorate, 92 people, including high-ranking army officers, academics, senior policemen and journalists, were illegally wiretapped between 2009 and 2013. The warrants were issued for 26 policemen suspected of being involved in the case in Izmir and other provinces, including the capital Ankara as well as Istanbul, Denizli, Erzurum, Malatya, Mus, Trabzon, Hakkari and Sirnak provinces.



This is not the first time such an operation to detain suspects in the case has been launched in the country. Earlier in 2014, a similar operation was launched in Izmir and 13 other provinces in which 32 suspects were detained after a newspaper story revealed that several public servants were being illegally wiretapped. All the suspects were later released by the court pending trial.



To date, hundreds of police officers have been detained and testified in the alleged wiretapping probe. The continued operations follow a December 2013 probe which led to the arrest of several high-profile figures, including the sons of three former government ministers and leading business people. All those detained in the December operation were later released pending trial.



The government has blamed the wiretapping case on the Gulen movement led by U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, which is also accused of attempting to infiltrate the Turkish state.



The parallel state, according to the government, refers to an alleged group of Turkish bureaucrats and senior officials embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and the police who are working to undermine the sitting Turkish government with Gulen.



The Gulen movement denies all charges.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Ankara