Turkish court issues arrest warrant for Fetullah Gülen and Emre Uslu in Selam Tevhid case

The Istanbul 14th Criminal Court ordered the arrests in absentia of U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gülen and former police officer Emre Uslu on Monday over illegal wiretapping in the Selam Tevhid case, along with 112 suspects.

Fetullah Gülen, who is in a self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, is being sought as the primary suspect for being the leader of the alleged Gülenist Terror Organization (FETÖ).

The indictment against Gülen and Uslu is 10,529-pages long. A total of 55 out of 122 suspects in the probe, including former police chief Yurt Atayün, have been arrested.

The network led by Gülen in the Selam Tevhid case are accused of wiretapping senior Turkish government figures, including the prime minister, National Intelligence Organization (MIT) chief, Cabinet ministers as well as journalists through serving state officials.

The court decided that the first trial of the case would be held early February next year and also issued red notices for both suspects.

This is not the first time that a Turkish court has issued arrest warrants for Gülen and Uslu. On October 19, Istanbul's High Penal Court issued an arrest warrant for Gülen and his aide Sinan Dursun for "attempting to stage a coup, establishing and masterminding an armed organization and political espionage" in Turkey. On February 24, a Turkish criminal court in Istanbul issued an arrest warrant for Gülen and Uslu, again related to the FETÖ probe.

Current probe is launched with the allegation that the suspects in the fabricated Selam Tevhid case were illegally wiretapped by members of the FETÖ under the guise of an inquiry into the eponymous, nonexistent terrorist organization.

The Gülen Movement is accused of establishing or managing a terrorist organization, exposing confidential information belonging to the state for political or military espionage purposes, attempting to overthrow or obstruct the function of the government of the Republic of Turkey, violating the confidentiality of private life, unlawful recording of personal information, forgery of official documents, fabricating crimes, and destroying evidence.