Two Turkish businessmen held in ‘parallel state’ probe

Two senior executives of Boydak Holding, Haci Boydak and Memduh Boydak, have been remanded in custody Sunday as part of an investigation into the "parallel state".

Two other executives - Murat Bozdag and Erol Boydak, also detained on Friday - were released by the court pending trial.

On Friday, four senior executives of Boydak Holding were detained in the central province of Kayseri.

Executive Board Chairman Haci Boydak and his younger brother, CEO Memduh Boydak, were accused of being members of and providing financial support to the “parallel state", while two other executives - Murat Bozdag and Erol Boydak – were accused of spreading propaganda for the organization on social media.

Officers also searched the suspects’ houses as well as the company headquarters.

Memduh Boydak was among 11 people detained in another anti-parallel state operation in September 2015. They were charged with organized grand larceny.

He was also serving as chairman of the board of trustees at Kayseri’s Meliksah University. He was released soon after, but remained under judicial control, along with six other senior figures at the university and Boydak Holding.

What is known in Turkey as the “parallel state” is headed by Fetullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Islamic preacher who runs a network of schools and commercial enterprises in Turkey and around the world.

Known also by the initials FETO/PDY, the “parallel state” designates a clandestine group of Turkish bureaucrats and senior officials, allegedly embedded in the country’s institutions, including the judiciary and the police.

Since early 2014, investigations into the parallel state have seen hundreds of civil servants, including police and public prosecutors, arrested or reassigned.