President Gül urged intel chief not to accede prosecutor’s call for interrogation

ANKARA

The explanation from Ahmet Sever, the chief press advisor to the president, regarding intel chief Hakan Fidan (C) came in a news report published Feb. 21 in Turkish daily Türkiye. DAILY NEWS files photo

President Abdullah Gül did not encourage National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan to accede to a prosecutor’s call for interrogation in February 2012, but in fact strongly urged him not to comply with the request, the president’s office has stated.

The explanation from Ahmet Sever, the chief press advisor to the president, came in a news report published Feb. 21 in Turkish daily Türkiye, headlined “Horrible Narcosis Plan.”

The report suggested that when he received the prosecutor’s call for interrogation, Fidan called Gül by phone after he was unable to reach Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan due to the latter’s health at the time.

Erdoğan was due to undergo an operation at the time when the prosecutor called the spy chief for an interrogation. The prime minister reportedly returned Fidan’s call after the time of his operation changed and told the MİT chief not to comply with the prosecutor’s call.