RIZE, Turkey
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has challenged the Turkish opposition to reveal their real relationship with the "parallel state”.
His remarks came on Tuesday after Turkish media reported that Ekrem Dumanli, the editor-in-chief of the Zaman daily newspaper - the main print media organ of the so-called "parallel structure” - recently held a secret meeting with Gulten Kisanak, the Mayor of Diyarbakir and co-chair of the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party, or HDP.
Dumanli was among the eight people released on December 19 by the Istanbul Penal Court after being arrested in a high-profile police operation against the "parallel state", a purported group of bureaucrats embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and the police, which the government says is working to undermine it and Turkey.
"Come forward and explain: what were you doing and plotting with the 'parallel gang'?" he told an election rally of his Justice and Development, or AK Party, in Turkey's northeastern city of Rize in the Black Sea region on Tuesday afternoon.
Davutoglu argued that the opposition parties are all in a bid to form a front against his ruling party together with the "parallel state" ahead of June parliamentary elections.
He pledged that neither his government nor the party would surrender to the "coup attempts by a few gangs or let them [suppress] the national will".
Davutoglu was speaking in reference to Saturday's controversial decision by two judges in an Istanbul civil court of First Instance to discharge detainees from the Dec. 14 media crackdown against the "parallel state" who were held on charges related to the ‘parallel state’ investigation.
Three judges were suspended on Monday by Turkey’s top judicial board HSYK from the ongoing "parallel state" case until investigations against them are finalized.
The PM further maintained that the alliance of opposition parties and "parallel state" was seeking to cripple the government's success, an attempt he called a "vain dream".
"They can never put the national will on hold, even if they gather in larger numbers," he added.
On Dec. 14, a police operation was launched against senior media figures and police officers in 13 provinces across Turkey amid allegations they were affiliated with what the government describes as the "parallel state".
More than 20 suspects were taken into custody for being allegedly linked with the "parallel state" -- which also refers to U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen and his so-called Gulen movement, which has been under intense scrutiny in Turkey.
They were charged with forgery, fabricating evidence and forming an alleged crime syndicate to overtake the sovereignty of the state.
Gulen has rejected the accusations.
In December 2013, an anti-graft probe targeted a number of high-profile figures, including the sons of three former government ministers, and leading Turkish businessmen.
The government has denounced the probe as a "dirty plot" constructed by the "parallel state."
