Turkey's interior minister sparks debate

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

DHA photo

Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin sparked fresh controversy during a parliamentary session late April 17, when he revealed a private conversation between two lawmakers of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).

During the debate, Şahin said the ban on Nevruz celebrations last month had been decided after the authorities eavesdropped on members of the alleged urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) and became aware that they were planning violent acts.

He also said that BDP lawmakers expressed their content for the ban in a private conversation because “otherwise [they] would have travelled from city to city.” 

BDP Deputy Group Chair Hasip Kaplan said the minister’s remarks amounted to a confession of illegal eavesdropping on lawmakers and called on prosecutors to open an investigation on the issue. “This is a scandalous situation, one as grave as Watergate. Şahin should be tried at the Supreme Court. A Parliament investigation should also be opened against him,” Kaplan told the Daily News.