Turkey: 10 officers indicted for Gulen-related 'terrorism'

ANKARA

An Ankara court has accepted Friday an indictment accusing 10 policemen of belonging to a group that is allegedly attempting to overthrow the Turkish government.

The suspects are charged with "being member of an armed terrorist organization" -- what government officials call the Gulenist Terrorist Organization -- and "gathering personal information of Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his family" for the aforementioned group.

According to the indictment, the suspects gathered the information via a system called DEVA -- Detailed Data Analysis System -- which security forces use to store the personal data of each individual in the country for security purposes.

The policemen, who had also been previously charged for "seizing personal information illegally", reportedly conveyed the information gathered to the group in 2012-2013, the indictment said. 

The Turkish government accuses the Gulen movement, led by U.S.-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, of plotting to overthrow the government by infiltrating state institutions, mainly the police and the judiciary.

Gulen supporters are accused by the government of engaging in long-term wiretapping on high-ranking government officials and mounting a coup d'etat attempt through a graft investigation in December 2013, which had targeted Cabinet members.