Main opposition party accuses government of illegal wiretapping of journalists

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has accused the government of illegal wiretapping of journalists’ phones through the National Intelligence Organization (MİT).

The government was not respecting laws and such incidents were acts of dictatorial regimes, Kılıçdaroğlu said, addressing his party in Parliament yesterday.

According to the intelligence organization’s regulation, the identity of the one who would be wiretapped should be mentioned openly in the court order, the CHP leader said. However, the identities of journalists, including Mehmet Baransu and Yasemin Çongar, were mentioned by their foreign code names in court orders, in order to obtain wiretapping warrants, Kılıçdaroğlu added, noting that the authorities cooperated with judges in order to obtain those court orders.

In normal democracies, governments would be brought down over this scandal, and the judge and the intelligence chief would have to resign, Kılıçdaroğlu stated, adding that it was now down to the electorate to hold the government to account at the ballot box.

“Be sure that the people will make them step down,” the CHP head said.