Former police officer released in graft probe

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

DHA Photo

An Istanbul court ordered on Feb. 9 the release of a former police officer who was arrested in a probe over the alleged “parallel state” conspiracy.

Istanbul’s 13th High Penal Court decided in a unanimous vote to release Hüseyin Korkmaz who had been detained 17 months ago.

The court also ordered the continuation of the detentions of seven suspects, including former police chiefs Yakup Saygılı and Kazım Aksoy, judicial sources said.

The suspects have all been charged with being part of the “parallel state,” an alleged group headed by U.S.-based Islamic Scholar Fethullah Gülen. 

In a December 2013 probe, Bilal Erdoğan, the son of the president, was implicated as one of the plaintiffs, along with several Turkish businessmen with links to then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. 

The government managed to quash the investigation through a series of dismissals and reassignments of prosecutors and state officials.

Gülen continues to reside in Pennsylvania and is being tried in absentia. The Turkish government has filed a request for his extradition from the United States.

Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) accuse Gülen of forming and heading a terrorist organization whose members they say are working as insiders in the police, judiciary and other state organizations.