Details added (first version posted on 13:48)
Baku, Azerbaijan, June 17
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
A number of officials of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's security guard have been detained, the country's TRT Haber TV channel reported on June 17.
They, and another 12 people, whose names are not disclosed, have been detained on charges of wiretapping the prime minister's phone conversations.
On Feb. 25, several Turkish media outlets said the telephone conversations of over 7000 people close to both the country's ruling party and opposition parties, were wiretapped as part of an anti-terrorist operation against members of the 'Salam' organization in 2011.
It was also reported that the telephone conversations of Turkish intelligence head, Hakan Fidan were also wiretapped under these anti-terrorist operations.
After this, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Gulen of that, namely representatives of his movement stand behind the wiretapping of the phone conversations.
Erdogan also stressed that Gulen's movement (which he earlier called as a 'parallel structure') with its anti-state activities proved that it is not a religious movement, but a politicized and illegal structure.
A criminal case has been initiated in Turkey against Fethullah Gulen for his coup attempt and espionage against Turkey.
Earlier, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Gulen will be extradited from the U.S., adding that Turkey has launched the legal procedure for extradition of Gulen.
Edited by CN