At the beginning of last week, a large-scale operation took place in Turkey, during which dozens, and according to some reports, more than a hundred active and retired police officers were arrested. According to the Hurriyet newspaper, special operations were carried out in 22 provinces of the country. Among those arrested is one of the country's most famous and influential police officers, the former head of the anti-terrorist unit of the Istanbul police, Omer Kese. The authorities call the operation anti-corruption, and the arrested policemen are accused of espionage, creating a criminal group, forgery of documents, fabrication of evidence and illegal wiretapping of telephone conversations of top government officials, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan removes all obstacles on his path to the presidency
Photo: Umit Bektas, Reuters

As observers note, all those arrested were in one way or another connected with a large-scale investigation into cases of corruption in the highest echelons of the Turkish government. The corruption scandal erupted in December last year. Four ministers from among the prime minister's closest associates were then forced to resign. Erdogan's son was also among the suspects. There was even a recording of a telephone conversation between the prime minister and his son on the Internet, in which they allegedly discussed ways to hide a large amount of cash.

Erdogan's response was a large-scale purge of the police and courts: thousands of police officers and hundreds of judges involved in the investigation were transferred to other positions or fired altogether. Erdogan denied the accusations themselves, calling them a foreign conspiracy.

A new wave of repressions, experts believe, is associated with the upcoming presidential elections, in which Erdogan intends to participate.

Erdogan remembered his enemies