17 Gülenist police officers arrested

17 police officers among the 21 who were detained under the scope of the unlawful wiretapping investigation, have been arrested. The wiretapping investigation was initiated in Istanbul and launched in 12 cities earlier this week. The other four officers have been released, on the condition that they cannot leave the country.

The suspects were detained under the scope of an investigation initiated by İrfan Fidan, the deputy chief of the Public Prosecutor's Office in Istanbul, for wiretapping confidential meetings of national and international importance, as well as senior government officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The police officers' hearing started on Thursday at 14.30 and ended on Saturday at 23.00. The judge gave his verdict two hours following their hearing.

Some 21 police officers accused of being affiliated with the Gülen Movement and wiretapping top state officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, were detained earlier this week as part of the investigation, led by the Public Prosecutor of Istanbul.

Some of the charges that the police officers face include espionage for political and military purposes by a terrorist organization, and threatening the national security of the Turkish Republic. Top level state meetings were also allegedly wiretapped and released on social media, raising fears about the degree of the threat posed by the infiltrators.

Some police officers that are currently imprisoned are also on the suspect list according to initial reports.

It was reported that the operation was initiated under the scope of the Tawhid-Salam case following the discovery of new evidence and focused on Istanbul followed by cities such as Zonguldak and Afyon. Tawhid-Salam was controversially attributed to a terrorist organization in the 1990s and was reused by agents of the Gülen Movement to fabricate evidence for unlawful spying purposes. Hundreds of people from different social, economic, political and ideological backgrounds were wiretapped for allegedly being members of a terrorist organization. The case was dismissed when the prosecutor's office ruled there was a "lack of grounds for legal action" against the alleged members of the so-called Tawhid-Salam organization.

The Gülen Movement, led by Fethullah Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, United States, is accused of infiltrating state institutions to take over the democratically elected government. A red notice is expected to be issued by Interpol for the arrest of Gülen, who is accused of leading a criminal organization, while the Turkish government expects the U.S. to extradite him under the scope of mutual treaties signed between the two countries.