MİT chief briefs CHP on counterterrorism efforts

ANKARA

National Intelligence Organization (MİT) chief İbrahim Kalın has briefed Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel and the party’s central executive board on the nation’s counterterrorism strategies.

In a rare engagement between the MİT and the opposition, the talks at the CHP headquarters on Nov. 20 focused on the government's ongoing efforts against PKK, FETÖ and ISIL, with Kalın providing detailed insights into the strategies being employed, reports said.

Stringent security measures were in place at the premises, restricting access to only meeting participants.

Kalın addressed additional questions posed by Özel and CHP members following the presentation. A statement from the CHP described the meeting as “positive.”

Speaking to reporters later in the day, Özel commended Kalın's visit.

"The visit by our MİT chief is significant. We received comprehensive answers to our questions and gained valuable insights. I thank him for this constructive exchange," he said at an event in Ankara.

The decision to hold the meeting followed Kalın’s briefing to members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Oct. 22. Led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, that session came after the death of FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen in the U.S.

Özel had previously expressed his expectation for a similar briefing, noting in an Oct. 29 conversation with Kalın that such an exchange with the opposition would be welcomed.

“If there is information shared with the second party in the country’s last elections, why is it withheld from the first party?” Özel said on the YouTube channel of journalist Özlem Gürses.

Before his appointment earlier this year, Kalın had served as Türkiye’s presidential spokesperson since 2014. He replaced Hakan Fidan, who had been MİT’s head since 2010 until he took office as the foreign minister on June 3 in the new cabinet.