M.İ., an inspector working in the organized crime unit of Turkish police in the capital Ankara, reportedly planned the escape of Serdar Sertçelik, a secret eyewitness who was involved in a conspiracy against the government. He was among four people detained on Thursday.
Sertçelik was detained in an investigation into a criminal gang led by underworld figure Ayhan Bora Kaplan who was captured last year. Authorities, however, recently uncovered a plot involving Sertçelik. Several police officers were accused of employing him as an eyewitness to start a false graft probe to implicate people close to the government, from a former justice minister to prominent politicians. An investigation found that Sertçelik violated the rules of his house arrest several times and then fled Türkiye.
M.İ. is accused of coordinating Sertçelik’s escape with the assistance of three civilians detained on Thursday. He reportedly gave a ride to Sertçelik from Ankara to Istanbul and oversaw his trip from Istanbul to Bodrum in southwestern Türkiye. From Bodrum, Sertçelik crossed to the nearby Greek island of Kos.
Prior to that, he was among police officers who allegedly went against regulations and met the lawyer of Kaplan though his interrogation was already concluded. An investigation found out that M.İ., the lawyer and other officers had dinner and visited a massage parlor.
Earlier, M.İ.’s superiors were detained in the investigation into the alleged plot against the government. One of them was released while three other high-ranking officers remained in detention. The Interior Ministry is conducting an internal affairs investigation on the case, while Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced earlier this week that the conclusion of the investigation will be made public soon.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday hit out at what he termed “forces of sedition” trying to disrupt the recent thaw in Turkish politics.
“Türkiye will not let them thrive,” he told his ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) parliamentary meeting in Ankara. In Türkiye, "there is a need for a softening in politics, and as always, we are doing and will do our part in this regard. After all, we have never been and will never be on the side of polarization and tension caused by factionalism," Erdoğan said in a thinly veiled reference to recent allegations of a new coup attempt against himself and his government.
The allegations were eerily similar to a plot by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which utilized its infiltrators in law enforcement and the judiciary to attempt to topple the government in 2013 by fabricated allegations against government officials in a graft probe.
“We are aware of those whose sole capital in politics is dividing people and what they’re trying to achieve,” Erdoğan said. “But we will overcome it as we have similar attempts in the past.”
