Turkish state to pay up to 4 million liras to informants for intel

ANKARA

Those who assist Turkish security forces in capturing militants by providing intelligence about their identities or locations could be rewarded up to 4 million Turkish Liras, according to a new regulation.The amount of the reward, which will not be over 200,000 Turkish Liras, will be decided with the Interior Ministry’s approval, according to the regulation, which was issued as a part of anti-terror law no. 3713 and published in the Official Gazette on March 30. However, a reward commission will have the authority to increase the reward.According to the new regulation, the reward commission, which will be headed by the Interior Ministry’s deputy undersecretary responsible of security matters, will consist of seven members who are going to be selected by the police command and the Gendarmerie General Command. The members will be senior-level managers who are employed in anti-terror units.The regulation states that in order for the reward to be given, the provided information should help shed light on a crime, which has to be a part of anti-terror law no. 3713 or identify a perpetrator. In addition, the persons who will be rewarded should not be involved in committing the crime and cannot be a civil servant assigned to counter terrorism, the police force, the intelligence service or the military. Village guards are among those who can be rewarded, the regulation stated.The persons who receive the reward don’t have to be Turkish citizens, but should demand the reward in order to receive it, said the Interior Ministry.The reward commission can increase the award up to 20 times with the Interior Ministry’s approval, if the perpetrator is a senior figure of a “terrorist organization” or if the crime that was committed caused public indignation. If the person providing information assists the officials in more than one case, the amount of the reward can be decided for each case separately.The identity of the persons who receive the rewards will be kept secret and criminal action will be taken against those who do not conform to the confidentiality.