Investigation of Turkish Intelligence head won’t proceed, says prosecutor

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) head Hakan Fidan. Hürriyet photo

The pending investigation of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) officials, including head Hakan Fidan, will not be pursued further due to lack of Prime Ministry permission, according to a recent statement by Istanbul Public Prosecutor Turan Çolakkadı.

The statement said there was no place for prosecution since the necessary requirements, namely the prime minister’s permission for criminal proceedings, have not been fulfilled.

A prosecutor wanted to summon MİT head Hakan Fidan and three other top MİT officials for involvement in the “Oslo talks” last February. None of the summoned names, however, showed up to testify. The prosecutor’s office then issued an arrest warrant, prompting the government to quickly pass a law as a counter-move that required the prime minister’s permission to investigate intelligence officers.

The Prime Ministry finally notified the Istanbul Public Prosecutor that the permission was not granted to go ahead with the criminal proceedings.

Meetings conducted secretly between the AKP and some senior PKK operatives between 2009 and 2011 in Oslo, Norway in hopes of finding a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue were later nicknamed the “Oslo talks.” The prosecutor had alleged that MİT colluded with the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the alleged urban wing of the PKK, and its operatives to engage in violence.

Appointed head of MİT in early 2010, Fidan made headlines in September 2011 following the release of voice recordings of a meeting between the MİT and PKK’s senior officials in Oslo. The meetings reportedly happened at Erdoğan’s personal command and Fidan, who was not chief of the agency at the time of the “Oslo talks,” reportedly said he was personally representing Erdoğan, on recordings of the meetings that were later leaked on the Internet.