Ruling AKP refutes ‘Iran spies’ allegations

ISTANBUL

A department working under the prime ministry has been wiretapped by two spies, allegedly with links to Iranian intelligence. DHA photo

A department working under the Turkish Prime Ministry has been wiretapped by two spies with alleged links to Iranian intelligence, according to a report published in daily Türkiye Sept.17.

The daily claimed that two female founders of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) were involved in the wiretapping at the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), a department working under the Prime Ministry.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ has confirmed the illegal wiretapping but denied reports that the suspects were among the founders of the party.

After several “bugs” were found in the office of the YTB eight months ago, the Ankara Police Department launched an investigation to find the receivers to which the bugged recordings were transmitted, Türkiye reported.

The investigation revealed that two women, who were both part of the group that reportedly helped found the AKP and still provided support to the party, had installed the wiretapping devices.

A further investigation by the Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office revealed that the mobile phone numbers of the two women were registered under the name of an Iranian citizen, with whom the pair had occasionally met. Police are now searching for the Iranian citizen as part of the investigation.

The bugs were reportedly put in one of the offices of the YTB and also in the house of a YTB official.

“A criminal complaint was filed about a year ago over a wiretapping in the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities office. The investigation is ongoing. We do not know the details of the investigation. However, the report about involvement by founders of the AKP in the wiretapping is a complete lie,” Bozdağ said Sept.17.

Nimet Baş, one of the female founders of the AKP, reacted to the report via her Twitter account, saying the 13 women who worked to found the AKP had taken a great risk during the party’s formative years due to the political climate at the time.

Baş, a former education minister, also wrote that none of these women had ever considered the possibility that they could be accused of spying or committing treason.

Türkiye also claimed that the two women also attempted to wiretap a minister from the AKP. The firms that sold the bugs are also being investigated over the case, it said.