I briefed Turkish PM in person, arrested police officer claims

Fırat ALKAÇ ISTANBUL

Atayün is among the 49 suspected officers that were detained in Istanbul on July 22.AA Photo

Yurt Atayün, the former head of the Istanbul anti-terror police department, has told an Istanbul court that he personally briefed the prime minister on faulty intel that was used in operations against the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Atayün is among the 49 suspected officers that were detained in Istanbul on July 22, as part of an operation over the alleged illegal wiretapping of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his inner circle.

“I do not remember the date exactly. But I submitted in person the briefing on the MİT [National Intelligence Agency] members who were involved in crimes as part of the KCK operations at a meeting that was attended by Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, Istanbul Police Chief Hüseyin Çapkın and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” he said, adding that the meeting was at the Sabiha Gökçen Airport in Istanbul.

“During my period of duty, I used to submit the information on the Ergenekon and PKK-KCK operations sometimes directly to Istanbul Police Chief Hüseyin Çapkın and his deputies. Our Istanbul Chief Hüseyin Çapkın submitted the information to the prime minster on the negligence of operations carried out by MİT members who were involved in crimes,” Atayün said.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) hurried the law in question through Parliament in February, 2013, when a prosecutor wanted to summon Turkey’s MİT head Hakan Fidan and three other top MİT officials for the Oslo talks. The meetings were conducted in secret between the AKP and some senior PKK operatives between 2009 and 2011 in Oslo, Norway, in the hope of finding a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue, which were later nicknamed the “Oslo talks.” The prosecutor alleged that the MİT colluded with the KCK, and its operatives to engage in violent activities.

Erdoğan said earlier this week about the detentions of the police officers as part of operations into the “parallel state” that the probe would continue on with the information acquired from the investigations.

Court gives up on hearing suspects

The Istanbul court was expected to announce a verdict of the detained people late June 29, as it gave up on hearing the suspects due to the long durations of their speeches.

Some 20 police officers have been sent to prison after being arrested as part of Turkey’s “parallel state” probe. The AKP claims that supporters of Erdoğan’s erstwhile ally, U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, formed an alleged “parallel state” aimed at toppling the government, particularly through their posts in the judiciary and the police.

The latest court action follows two high-profile, Istanbul-based anti-graft operations that were launched in Dec. 2013 and led to the arrest of high-profile figures, including the sons of the three government ministers as well as several business entrepreneurs. All those detained in the probe were later released pending trial.