Two Turkish policemen arrested over bugging Erdoğan after extradition from Romania

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Ilker Usta (C) was detained at an Istanbul airport late March 28. AA photo

Two Turkish police officers, including the former chief of police, have been arrested 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 İlker Usta were taken into custody after arriving at Istanbul airport late on March 28 and were arrested in the same day.
      
The pair are alleged to have fled abroad to avoid being questioned as part of an operation in Turkey against what the government labels as "the parallel structure," referring to the followers of U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen in the country's institutions, including the police.

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

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu 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 Erdoğan'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 structure."