New arrests in investigation of plot targeting MHP, CHP politicians

A court ordered the arrest of 38 suspects, including a former police chief, late on Monday in an investigation into a plot targeting politicians from the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

Ömer Altıparmak, a former head of the intelligence department of the Turkish National Police is accused together with several police officers of involvement in a sex tape scandal, allegedly orchestrated by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ). Altıparmak is implicated in another case regarding the wiretapping of the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's office during his tenure as prime minister.

Deniz Baykal was the chairman of the CHP until he was compelled to resign in 2010 after a sex tape recordings from hidden cameras emerged showing him with his former secretary and a deputy, and a series of scandals in 2010 and 2011 saw several MHP deputies also forced to step down after hidden camera sex tapes were leaked showing extra-marital affairs.

A total of 47 suspects were detained, and nine detainees were released under judicial control by a court in the capital Ankara. Earlier this month, a prosecutor's office issued arrest warrants for 120 suspected Gülenists in an investigation of the sex tape scandals. Several suspects, mostly former police officers, remain at large. Prosecutors claim that Gülenists, who were influential in law enforcement, arranged the installation of hidden cameras that captured Baykal and MHP deputies. Though Baykal later returned to Parliament as a CHP deputy, the scandal effectively ended his chances for re-election to CHP chairmanship, while the MHP leadership, including seven vice chairmen, quit their posts in the wake of leaked video. Faruk Bayındır, a prominent businessman, stands accused of leaking the sex tapes of MHP lawmakers on a website under his name, and is wanted on charges of FETÖ membership.

FETÖ stands accused of masterminding the July 15 coup attempt, as well as being implicated in a string of crimes ranging from illegal wiretapping of thousands of officials and civilians; money laundering; forging evidence to imprison critics; all allegedly done with support of cult infiltrators within the judiciary, police and bureaucracy.