Gov’t vows to adopt law on wiretapping

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Illegal eavesdropping became a popular topic of debate after PM Erdoğan made it public Dec 21 that wiretapping devices had been found in his home office. DHA photo

The government aims to finalize all necessary legal arrangements concerning illegal eavesdropping before the end of ongoing legislative year, Binali Yıldırım, minister for transportation, maritime and communication, announced yesterday.

In response to questions from reporters, Yıldırım described the recent move for formation of a parliamentary investigation commission on the issue as “a very important step.”

His announcement about the legal arrangements came a day after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) introduced a proposal for the formation of a parliamentary investigation commission concerning illegal eavesdropping and violations of privacy. The proposal has the support of 140 AKP deputies.

Since both the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) introduced separate proposals on the issue earlier in the year, all of the proposals are expected to be united and assessed accordingly.

Yıldırım said society was not satisfied with legal arrangements made in 2006 that rule that illegal eavesdropping cannot be used as legal evidence under any circumstances. He said the issue had become a source of “paranoia” for society, hence the decision to take a new step was taken along with the Justice Ministry.

“Our target is to reach a result on this issue before the end of this legislative year. What will we do? We will adopt a law. Arrangements will be made, a law will be adopted, and collateral arrangements will be made,” he said, adding that they were aiming to relieve people through these actions. “The aim is to avoid people continuing their lives amid such concern,” the minister said.

In Parliament next week

AKP deputy parliamentary group chair Mahir Ünal told Anatolia news agency that the proposal for an investigation commission would be debated at Parliament’s General Assembly next week, on Jan. 22.
In its reasoning for the proposal about the commission, the AKP said public opinion had a perception that despite all legal arrangements and effective penal sanctions, “bugs, secret cameras or remote eavesdropping systems” have been illegally used, and that such recordings have been illegally used by the media.

“Taking into consideration the intense complaints and demands from citizens, investigation of the issue by Parliament … has become an expectation of public opinion,” the AKP said.

Illegal eavesdropping became a popular topic of debate after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made it public Dec. 21 that wiretapping devices had been found in his home office.