ANKARA
A former senior member of Turkey’s top scientific body was detained early Monday on charges of “political spying” in a case connected to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Hasan Palaz was detained in the Gebze district of northwestern Kocaeli province and will be brought to the Ankara prosecutor's office for questioning.
The former vice chairman of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, TUBITAK, was detained in a probe into purported illegal bugging of Erdogan’s office in 2014 when the politician was prime minister.
Charges of "political spying" were brought against 13 suspects, including Palaz, in Ankara's 7th High Criminal Court as part of the investigation.
Palaz's detention comes a day after two wanted policemen, Sedat Zavar and Ilker Usta, were detained and sent to Metris prison in Istanbul.
The pair are alleged to have fled abroad to avoid being questioned as part of an operation in Turkey to dismantle the "parallel state" – a network of bureaucrats and senior officials embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and police, which the Turkish government claims are trying to undermine it.
The pair was extradited from Romania at the request of Turkey following a court ruling on March 20.
Dozens of police officers have been detained and hundreds of others reassigned across Turkey in an ongoing operation against the "parallel state."
