ANKARA — Turkey's Interior Minister Efkan Ala said in response to the Gülenists' illegal wiretapping probe, 198 investigations in 43 Turkish cities have been conducted.
Ahead of the March 30 local elections, the Gülen Movement, which infiltrated both the police and judiciary, leaked illegal wiretapped conversations between key governmental bodies with the aim of overthrowing the Turkish government.
Ala said, "425 investigators are carrying out the probe. As of now, 839 personnel have been investigated specifically, 72 complaints have been filled, 195 personnel were removed from their posts, 562 personnel were reshuffled and 2,316 personnel were reassigned."
The list included prominent names from the media, politics, business sector, communities, religious foundations and nongovernmental organizations. Headquarters of banks, companies, religious foundations, newspaper and television personalities, ministries, public institutions, universities, news agencies, charity organizations and intellectuals were all targets.
Politicians, including Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the head of the governmental intelligence agency Hakan Fidan and prominent members of Turkey's main opposition parties were also wiretapped. A grand total of up to 300,000 people had their conversations illegally recorded, including friends, family and those who contacted the alleged suspects chosen by the Gülen Movement.
