November 11, 2015•Update: November 11, 2015
ISTANBUL
An Istanbul court has issued an arrest warrant for the former editor of a Turkish newspaper.
Ekrem Dumanli, who edited the Zaman daily, has been charged with "leading an armed terrorist organization and plotting to overthrow the elected Turkish government".
The court's decision came late Wednesday as part of an ongoing ‘parallel state’ probe into the so-called Selam-Tevhid organization.
This group is accused of wiretapping senior government figures including: the prime minister; the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization; cabinet ministers; and journalists, through serving state officials.
Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office asked an Istanbul court to issue the arrest warrant. The former editor’s whereabouts are unknown; police have been searching for Dumanli for two months.
He has been unavailable since Sep. 18.
Last December, Dumanli was held in custody for allegedly being affiliated with what the government describes as the "parallel state" - a purported group of bureaucrats embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and the police.
