‘Anti-parallel’ operation launched in Turkey’s Antalya

ANTALYA

A similar operation was launched in Konya on May 22 when the Prosecutor’s Office ordered the detention of 66 suspects in 19 provinces on charges of being a member of a criminal organization. DHA Photo

Turkish police have launched a fresh wave of operations centered in the Mediterranean province of Antalya against the alleged “parallel structure,” detaining six people including former police chiefs and officers.

The Antalya Police Department’s Counterterrorism Branch officers launched operations in five provinces of Antalya, İzmir, Burdur, Şanlıurfa and Batman, early on May 25, targeting alleged sympathizers of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who they claim heads a “terrorist organization.”

Antalya Police Chief Cemil Tonbul said arrest warrants had been issued for 13 people, six of whom were arrested on May 25 including the former deputy head of the Intelligence Directorate, identified as Mehmet E. 

The operations, led by the Antalya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, come three days after the police raided 19 provinces in operations centered in the Central Anatolian province of Konya, as part of another “parallel structure” investigation headed by the Konya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Arrest warrants were issued on May 22 for 66 people including former police chiefs, academics, and businessmen in the Konya-centered probe. 

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accuse their erstwhile ally Gülen of heading a group that infiltrated state institutions and tried to topple the Turkish government.