Informant rats on 'parallel' plan over Dec. 25 raid

A confidential informant, testified against those, involved in the December 25 raid, said that the perpetrators have actually aimed to topple the government, led by the former Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The investigation file of the police officers, who were actively involved in the December 25 raid, has featured several statements of confidential informants. However, the statement by the informant, named Fatih, showed how the US-based Islamic preacher Gülen has influenced the officers and orchestrated the December 25 raid which led a cabinet shakeup over the claims accusing the four ministers of wrongdoing.

'The chiefs, who conducted the investigation, were saying this probe is very important. It is an honor to take part in this probe. We were told that Hodja [Fethullah Gülen] has prayed for those who have conducted the investigation,' said the informant, whose testimony led to the detention of 33 police officers including Yakup Saygili, the then chief of Istanbul's financial crime unit at the police HQ.

In the Gulen-led shadowy organization, the person called as 'brother' is actually a priest. There is a top priest, who is the greatest in power, in the police and the judiciary, according to Cem Küçük, a columnist of Yenisafak, known for his articles on the parallel structure. Küçük says the top priest leads the two priests, who are inferior to him and all priests are supposed to obey their superiors, who is also priests, linked with the parallel state.

TESTIMONY SPILLS ALL ABOUT 'PARALLEL' RAID

The informant said that some officers have hesitated over the probe when its course has changed drastically.

'The probe was first launched on charges of collusive tendering, but a scheme was created that showed Erdogan as the leader of a criminal organization. This change caused some hesitations among the officers,'

'The chiefs were inducing them. They were saying this investigation is the century's most important file and it is a privilege to take part in the investigation,' he said.

The police chief, who conducted the investigation, found out children of Cengiz Aktürk, a suspect in the file, study at the schools, loyal to the US-based Islamic cleric Gulen. 'Since his children have gone to schools closely linked with the Gulen's congregation, the chief said if he is a subscriber to Daily Zaman, let's remove his name in the file. But he wasn't a subscriber so his name stayed in the file,' said the informant.

Mostly, The Daily Zaman is perceived as the mouthpiece of the Gulen-led parallel ring in the public. It is a custom for the parallel state to subscribe families, whose children have studied at schools or preparatory schools, run by those loyal to the US-based cleric.

According to the informants, the chiefs were considerably pleased with the probe because the investigation file pointed at Erdogan as the key suspect and featured him as 'the then prime minister.' 'The purpose of the investigation was absolutely to topple the government. Towards the end of the probe, the police chiefs were s2ordering to wiretap conversations of 15 or 20 phones and recorded them just because they belonged to those in the inner circle of the prime minister, but there was no evidence to show they were involved in any crime,' he said.

The correspondence made on Dec. 11th among the officers, who illegally wiretapped phone conversations of the former Prime Minister and many closely linked with him, is horrific, said the informant. 'They were saying we will not let them breath, we will take all the cabinet here [jail].'

The prosecutors, who conducted the investigation against the suspected police officers, said that this correspondence has matched with the content of the Dec 25 investigation file and their search has revealed conversations of all cabinet members that have been illegally tapped in that era.