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Turkey arrests 21 police over wiretapping Erdogan

Xinhua, February 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkey arrested on Sunday 21 police officers over charges of wiretapping President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other senior officials.

Earlier, the Public Prosecutor Office of Istanbul issued arrest warrants for the 21 officers.

The arrests came in a fresh wave of raids which focused on Istanbul but also took place in some western Black Sea cities, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.

Turkish police carried out numerous raids on former top police officials over the same charges in the past few months.

The authorities blame Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based preacher and Erdogan's arch foe, for masterminding a plot to topple the elected Turkish government via his supporters in the judiciary, police and other institutions.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday criticized Gulen's article published in the New York Times on Feb. 3, which targeted the Turkish government, and blamed Gulen for provoking Armenian, Greek and Jewish lobbies against the country.

A red notice is expected to be issued by the Interpol to arrest Gulen, who is accused of leading a criminal organization, while the Turkish government expects the United States to extradite him under the scope of treaties signed between the two countries. Endit