Alleged fraudster and former minister's relative drew huge salary as official at Turkey's science body

An alleged fraudster with familial links to the former science minister, who was arrested as part of a spying case involving the wiretapping of then-Prime Minister President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and other top state officials, received 423,000 Turkish Liras over two years during his employment at Turkey?s top science body. It has also been revealed that he used a fake diploma in order to qualify for a shorter military service period.

Hasan Ba?aran, who is married to former Science, Technology and Industry Minister Nihat Ergün?s niece, received a total salary of 423,000 liras during his tenure as a public certification manager at the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜB?TAK), according to TÜB?TAK?s response to the court?s request.

It was also revealed that Ba?aran performed a short-term military service using a fake diploma, thus halving the amount of time that he spent on military service.

He reportedly admitted in his court testimony that he produced the diploma using a photography manipulation program.

In the case, the Gölba?? Public Prosecutor?s Office in Ankara demanded that 26 people be detained as part of the probe into the Telecommunications Directorate (T?B) and TÜB?TAK. The court arrested four of the 11 suspects who were sent to court, including Osman Nihat ?en, the former deputy head of the T?B, who was detained on Jan. 21 in front of the court where he had arrived with lawyers to testify.

The suspects, together with Ba?aran, face charges including ?spying,? ?destroying the unity of the state,? and ?wiretapping both crypto-secure and regular telephones.?

Erdo?an accuses U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, the leader of what Erdo?an calls the ?parallel structure? for...