ISTANBUL
Turkish prosecutors have called for the arrest of 19 people – including 14 police officers – in connection with the disappearance of an oil official 17 years ago.
Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office called for the detentions on Sunday in the case of Cevzet Soysal, an official at Turkey’s national oil company who has been missing since 1998.
Soysal was working for the Turkish Petroleum Corporation when he went missing in the eastern province of Batman. Although he has never been discovered, a book published earlier this year claims that Soysal was adbucted and killed.
A former police intelliegence officer, Sabri Uzun, claimed in his book – called In – that Soysal had met with foul play.
Soysals’ wife, Kaside Soysal, told Anadolu Agency in January that his family believe he is merely missing.
An investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office now claims that the incident is "linked to the 'parallel structure'".
Turkish police are searching for the suspects.
The ongoing ‘parallel state’ probe has seen hundreds of arrests since last summer for alleged links to U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gulen and his so-called Gulen movement.
The alleged network is accused of orchestrating a corruption probe which targeted high-ranking Turkish officials in December 2013 in a bid to overthrow the government.
According to the Turkish government, the ‘parallel state’ or ‘parallel structure’ refers to a purported group of Turkish bureaucrats and senior officials embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and police, who have been allegedly trying to undermine the Turkish government.
