Kılıçdaroğlu wiretapped, CHP alleges

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An intel insider gave info that Kılıçdaroğlu has been wiretapped, says his party. DAILY NEWS photo

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and other CHP seniors are allegedly being wiretapped by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) while the government aims to use the illegal records for political gain, CHP deputy group chair Emine Ülker Tarhan has said.

Tarhan, who submitted a written motion to the Parliament on Aug. 5 asking if the prime minister had given instructions for wiretapping to the MİT, said the CHP’s concerns are not based on speculation.

“I took action and submitted the written question because it was information we obtained from [a source] inside the MİT. This is a very crucial issue, we still expect an explanation from the government,” Tarhan told the Hürriyet Daily News. According to Tarhan the CHP has received information that the illegal records would be used by the government to alter the nation’s political agenda when needed.

Kılıçdaroğlu’s wiretap claim
“My family and I are being eavesdropped, I received concrete data accordingly. They are wiretapping [us]. This is nothing new, I’ve said it before. Yet, Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] did not deny [the allegations]. He said that every breath I take was being watched,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, referring to Erdoğan’s Feb. 15 speech at his party’s parliamentary group, in an interview with daily Habertürk published Aug. 7. The CHP leader claimed he and his family were being eavesdropped on by the MİT.

“I noticed that my phone calls and meetings are being eavesdropped on. Either one of my statements is being conveyed indirectly to me or a news report about that statement appears somewhere. We are also being informed on this issue by someone, we have concrete data. The MİT is wiretapping and eavesdropping on us,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

According to Tarhan, the CHP received information that Kılıçdaroğlu and three other senior CHP officials are being wiretapped with both thier offices and residences being monitored with mobile vehicles.

“Politics has been designed via illegal records in recent years; all of us have witnessed it. The government said they are not behind these illegal records, but they’ve used it for political gain during election campaign rallies. However, official institutions are being used for eavesdropping at the moment and this is unacceptable,” Tarhan said.

Tarhan said she is not expecting an answer to her written motion but that the CHP would file a criminal complaint against the prime minister over eavesdropping allegations.

“The government is aiming to cover its failure in various areas by drawing attraction to the [possible] illegal records. I know I will not get a result from my written motion but I have submitted it to raise awareness on the issue,” Tarhan said.

The CHP has decried of eavesdropping recently as an audio tape dating back to the days when Tarhan was the head of the anti-government Judges and Prosecutors Union (YARSAV) was posted on the Internet last December, just days after Kılıçdaroğlu accused some judges of being militants of the government. Tarhan appeared to say “people who will be YARSAV militants are needed” on the tape. Tarhan had blamed a shadowy group equipped with high-tech devices for systematically wiretapping and secretly filming government opponents at the time.