Turkey detains 26 security officers over illegal wiretapping

The raids were a further salvo in President Tayyip Erdogan’s campaign against supporters of his ally turned arch - foe, the U. S. - based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

The chief prosecutor’s office in the western coastal city of Izmir carried out the raids, according to Dogan, a privately owned national news service.

Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment.

Erdogan accuses Gulen of setting up a " parallel state " within the Turkish administration and trying to topple him, blaming his supporters within the police and judiciary for a corruption inquiry that rocked the government late in ۲۰۱۳.

In the course of the scandal, apparently incriminating wiretap recordings of the then - prime minister, ministers and other senior officials were leaked onto the Internet.

Erdogan has cast the investigation, which led to the resignation of three ministers, as a " coup attempt " and in response he had thousands of police officers, judges and prosecutors removed from their posts.

Last month a Turkish court issued an arrest warrant against Gulen on suspicion of heading up a criminal organization. Gulen, who lives in self - imposed exile but was for years an important Erdogan ally before their relations soured, denies any involvement in plots against the government.