ISTANBUL
Five police officers were arrested in connection with alleged illegal wiretapping on Thursday in a major police operation in Istanbul and other Turkish cities.
Seven others were released on condition that they do not leave the country.
On Monday, 33 police officials were detained on charges including wiretapping, espionage and forgery in an operation that took place across several police departments in Istanbul and in 16 Turkish cities.
The operations follow a December 2013 anti-graft probe which led to the arrest of several high-profile figures, including the sons of three former government ministers and leading business figures. All those detained in December were later released pending trial.
The Turkish government has called the December probes a "dirty plot" constructed by a "parallel state," embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and the police.
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