Aug 10, 2017

Turkey may have a new intelligence service. If so, it is probably illegal.

The daily newspaper Sozcu reported Aug. 9 that a new intelligence service has come into existence under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Sozcu's Aug. 10 issue was dominated by the story, aptly headlined “Shocking, Documented Allegation.”

According to Sozcu, Bulent Tezcan, the vice chairman and speaker of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, presented evidence at a press conference that a “Presidential National Security Unit” has begun operations under the presidency. Tezcan pointed out that under Turkish law, only the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), the national police force and the gendarmerie can collect intelligence, leaving the new intelligence unit under Erdogan with no legal standing.

Tezcan went further in his allegations and drew a chilling comparison. He argued that as Turkey transitions from a parliamentary system to an executive presidency — in which the Prime Ministry will be abolished and the president will assume all executive power in 2019 — it is following in the footsteps of “Hitler, Mussolini, Salazar, Pinochet, Saddam and [Gadhafi], who had their own private intelligence organizations.” Tezcan added, “Other similar organizations are also being formed under the dictator. It is of utmost importance to the rule of law and national security in Turkey that this matter be clarified.”

Some may question the veracity of the story. After all, no bill came to the Turkish parliament to establish a new intelligence service or allocate a budget to it or place the MIT chief under the president (MIT directly reports to the prime minister). At any rate, Sozcu is known for using colorful and even offensive language against Erdogan and his party.