ANKARA: Turkey’s government yesterday sought parliamentary approval to boost the powers of the secret service, a move seen by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s critics as a bid to tighten his grip on the apparatus of state as he wages a bitter power struggle.
Control of security apparatus goes to the heart of a feud between Erdogan and Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally based in the United States whose network of followers wields influence in the police and judiciary.
Erdogan accuses Gulen’s Hizmet (“Service”) network of orchestrating a plot to unseat him, tapping thousands of phones, including his own, over years and using leaked recordings to unleash corruption allegations against his inner circle in the run-up to a series of elections. Gulen denies involvement.
According to an initial draft, proposals before parliament include giving the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) more scope for eavesdropping and foreign operations, as well as greater immunity from prosecution for top agents.
The MIT is run by Hakan Fidan, one of Erdogan’s closest confidantes.
Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said the priority was to update existing laws which were decades out of date and to bring Turkey’s spy agency in line with international peers.
“As with Western examples, the aim is to make the legislation more transparent and bestow the agency with a greater range of options,” he told parliament.
“With this draft law, the MIT’s activities regarding foreign security, national defence, the struggle against terrorism, counter-intelligence and cybercrime will be intensified.”
Erdogan’s AK party has a large majority in parliament.
Erdogan’s response to the corruption inquiry — purging thousands of officers from the police force and reassigning hundreds of prosecutors and judges — has raised concern in Western capitals, including Brussels, which fears the EU candidate nation is moving further away from European norms.
“Events over the past three months have cast doubt on Turkey’s commitment to European values and standards,” EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele said, citing tightened control of the judiciary and “massive transfers” of police and prosecutors as part of Erdogan’s purging of the bodies.
Senior officials have said Turkey will launch a criminal investigation into the alleged “parallel state” backed by Gulen, a crackdown likely to be led by the MIT. Nine police officers were detained in the southern city of Adana on Wednesday in connection with an inquiry into wiretapping, local media said.
The draft bill, which could be amended during debate, seeks to impose strict jail terms for the publication of leaked classified documents and protect the intelligence chief from prosecution by all but the country’s highest court of appeal.
“This law is equipping MIT with authorities it should not have in a state of law. These authorities will turn Turkey into an intelligence state,” said Sezgin Tanrikulu, a deputy from the main opposition Republican People’s Party.
REUTERS
