ISTANBUL
At least 12 police officers, of the 33 sought on Monday, have been sent to court for arrest after a major police operation early Wednesday morning, in Istanbul and other Turkish cities, as officers continue to be sought in connection with an alleged illegal wiretapping probe.
Moreover, three other officers were released while another was sent to court under probation, said an Istanbul prosecutor.
On Monday, 33 police officials were detained on charges including wiretapping, espionage and forgery. The anti-graft operation took place across several police departments in Istanbul and in 16 Turkish cities.
The operations follow a December 2013 probe that led to the arrest of several high-profile figures, including the sons of three former government ministers and leading business figures.
All those detained in December were later released pending trial.
The Turkish government has denounced the December probes as a "dirty plot" constructed by a "parallel state," a group of bureaucrats embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and the police.
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