CHP deputy questions wiretapping claims over 'AKP trolls'

ISTANBUL

‘This is a summary of the new Turkey,’ CHP deputy Erdal Aksünger (R) said.

A deputy from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has filed a parliamentary question to the prime minister over claims that Internet trolls linked to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have established firms to cover up illegal wiretapping activity and to deceive the Telecommunications Directorate (TİB), daily Cumhuriyet reported Nov. 9.

CHP İzmir deputy Erdal Aksünger said he had received very strong documents suggesting that a building in Istanbul’s central Mecidiyeköy neighborhood fronting as a call center was being used for wiretapping operations. Aksünger said it is clear that a number of AKP-supporting Internet trolls are conducting wiretapping based on the content of their tweets, and demanded information about the issue from Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.

“This situation is a summary of the ‘new Turkey,’ the new intelligence of the new Turkey,” he wrote in his question.

Aksünger also claimed that the government was seeking to transfer the TİB’s authorities over the Internet and telecommunications to the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), recalling President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s words during his time as prime minister that the government planned to “abolish the TİB and transfer its authorities to the MİT.

“The prime minister [Ahmet Davutoğlu] should explain how many trolls are used in wiretapping by the MİT, and the number of firms used by the MİT allowing AKP supporters to conduct wiretapping,” said Aksünger.