Probe underway into wiretapping of PM

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Erdoğan himself made public that he was wiretapped during an interview. AA photo

The Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office is conducting an investigation concerning bugging devices found at different residential locations used by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a newspaper report said yesterday.

Erdoğan himself made public that he was wiretapped on Dec. 21 during a live interview with NTV news channel. “You can’t know whether somebody put or did not bug my office, but related units found it [the bug] during a search in my office, under my house. Who put it there?” he said.

Rumors suggested in October that two bugs had been found in Erdoğan’s office at Parliament. At the time, the change of guard staff at the office was linked to an apparent lapse in security.

Following news reports, the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into the issue, without any official complaint being filed, daily Milliyet reported yesterday.

Four separate bugging devices were found at the prime minister’s parliamentary office, in his automobile, in a location related to his guard, and most recently in the office under his house. These devices are currently being examined by the Information Unit of the Ankara Police, upon which a detailed report will be prepared. PM’s remarks came after he was asked about whether the “deep state” had been entirely eliminated.