PM Erdoğan admits to governmental wiretaps
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 06, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - In a televised interview Erdoğan has argued that not just the authorities, but any private group with the means to do so is able to use technology to put anyone under surveillance, raising fears that eavesdropping in this country is more out of control than thought
The prime minister’s remarks in a televised interview that not only authorized officials can carry out surveillance, but private groups also possess the means to do so has left many thinking the dimensions of the eavesdropping in Turkey are more scandalous than first thought.
"In such a country where technology and telecommunication systems have highly developed, wiretappings don’t necessarily have to be conducted solely by the official channels," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a televised interview with the private Kanal 24 television channel Wednesday. "You can also be wiretapped by others. There are also private companies. You can’t ignore this fact."
Illegal surveillance is not a new phenomenon in Turkey, as the issue has previously come up on the radar on several occasions, including the during the ongoing Ergenekon investigation. Following the leaking of the records of a wiretapped conversation, claimed to be between the former Chief of General Staff İsmail Hakkı Karadayı and an unknown person, to a news Web site in January; a mobile phone conversation between Soner Gedik, deputy chairman of the Doğan Media Group, or DMG, and Mehmet Akif Ulusoy, commissioner of the Finance Ministry’s Revenue Administration, was leaked to certain Web sites at the end of February.
The timing of the leak was considered meaningful as it came days after the Finance Ministry issued an 826 million-Turkish Lira levy against the DMG due to alleged tax evasion. The phone call was about another issue and took place a month ago, before the ministry issued the fine against the DMG. Gedik also said it was Finance Minister Kemal Unakıtan who advised him to contact Ulusoy.
Confession
In an interview with the private Kral FM radio station Wednesday, Erdoğan implied that the phone conversation between Gedik and Ulusoy had been bugged by the state, which was considered a "confession" by the daily Milliyet yesterday. However, in another interview with the Kanal 24 TV Channel on Wednesday, Erdoğan said those who had the efficient technology to do so could wiretap people’s private communications, also implying the situation on wiretapping was even more uncontrollable than previously thought in Turkey.
"Some say we should take measure [to stop eavesdropping.] You can take measures as much as the other countries in the world can do in this respect. You can’t do more. In other words, there is no other possibility to proceed further because there could emerge some disadvantages if you did so," Erdoğan said.
Noting that they have tried to do their best to implement international laws in preventing wiretapping in Turkey, he said: "However, today even the countries which proved themselves successful in high technology and telecommunication can’t be 100 percent successful on the issue. They, too, face some problems."
Responding to a question on whether any political pressure played a role on the tax levy imposed on the DMG, Erdoğan said the move was not political and that he even learnt about the issue after the legal procedures had been completed. He said if the move bore a political motive, it would then be more logical for them to delay the fine after the local elections.
Noting that the media institutions owned by the DMG attacked their government because of the fine, Erdoğan said: "They don’t behave honestly. They manipulate the international media against us. They have connections in Germany, America and Brussels. There are also some such institutions in Turkey. They make them attack us. Their identity could be disclosed in the future as well."
Erdoğan also said he did not seek dialogue with Aydın Doğan, owner of the DMG. Erdoğan denied allegations that the fine had nothing to do with the critical news about his own family taking place in the media owned by Doğan. "Doğan told me that he once faced such attacks about his family and that he was disturbed with the situation. I likewise told him that what made me disturbed was the false news about my family and his [Doğan] ignorance of this false news in his own media," Erdoğan said.
What do the experts say?
Meanwhile, experts said the wiretapping of a mobile phone conversation between Gedik and Ulusoy, as well as its leak onto certain Web sites, constituted a crime. Article 135 of the Criminal Procedure Code clearly lists the conditions required for legal wiretapping. The wiretapping of Gedik’s conservation constituted a crime.
The leaking of the conservation to the Web sites also constituted a crime in all aspects. Article 135 says all procedures concerning the wiretapping are confidential. A legal eavesdropping requires an investigation authorized by the prosecutor. Such tape records, which are obtained through the prosecutor’s permission, can only be available to the police and gendarme who did the eavesdropping as well as the Telecommunications Board. The leaking of these records to the outside implies the violation of the Article 135 and requires a jail sentence from one to three years for those who violated this confidentiality.
"In such a country where technology and telecommunication systems have highly developed, wiretappings don’t necessarily have to be conducted solely by the official channels," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a televised interview with the private Kanal 24 television channel Wednesday. "You can also be wiretapped by others. There are also private companies. You can’t ignore this fact."
Illegal surveillance is not a new phenomenon in Turkey, as the issue has previously come up on the radar on several occasions, including the during the ongoing Ergenekon investigation. Following the leaking of the records of a wiretapped conversation, claimed to be between the former Chief of General Staff İsmail Hakkı Karadayı and an unknown person, to a news Web site in January; a mobile phone conversation between Soner Gedik, deputy chairman of the Doğan Media Group, or DMG, and Mehmet Akif Ulusoy, commissioner of the Finance Ministry’s Revenue Administration, was leaked to certain Web sites at the end of February.
The timing of the leak was considered meaningful as it came days after the Finance Ministry issued an 826 million-Turkish Lira levy against the DMG due to alleged tax evasion. The phone call was about another issue and took place a month ago, before the ministry issued the fine against the DMG. Gedik also said it was Finance Minister Kemal Unakıtan who advised him to contact Ulusoy.
Confession
In an interview with the private Kral FM radio station Wednesday, Erdoğan implied that the phone conversation between Gedik and Ulusoy had been bugged by the state, which was considered a "confession" by the daily Milliyet yesterday. However, in another interview with the Kanal 24 TV Channel on Wednesday, Erdoğan said those who had the efficient technology to do so could wiretap people’s private communications, also implying the situation on wiretapping was even more uncontrollable than previously thought in Turkey.
"Some say we should take measure [to stop eavesdropping.] You can take measures as much as the other countries in the world can do in this respect. You can’t do more. In other words, there is no other possibility to proceed further because there could emerge some disadvantages if you did so," Erdoğan said.
Noting that they have tried to do their best to implement international laws in preventing wiretapping in Turkey, he said: "However, today even the countries which proved themselves successful in high technology and telecommunication can’t be 100 percent successful on the issue. They, too, face some problems."
Responding to a question on whether any political pressure played a role on the tax levy imposed on the DMG, Erdoğan said the move was not political and that he even learnt about the issue after the legal procedures had been completed. He said if the move bore a political motive, it would then be more logical for them to delay the fine after the local elections.
Noting that the media institutions owned by the DMG attacked their government because of the fine, Erdoğan said: "They don’t behave honestly. They manipulate the international media against us. They have connections in Germany, America and Brussels. There are also some such institutions in Turkey. They make them attack us. Their identity could be disclosed in the future as well."
Erdoğan also said he did not seek dialogue with Aydın Doğan, owner of the DMG. Erdoğan denied allegations that the fine had nothing to do with the critical news about his own family taking place in the media owned by Doğan. "Doğan told me that he once faced such attacks about his family and that he was disturbed with the situation. I likewise told him that what made me disturbed was the false news about my family and his [Doğan] ignorance of this false news in his own media," Erdoğan said.
What do the experts say?
Meanwhile, experts said the wiretapping of a mobile phone conversation between Gedik and Ulusoy, as well as its leak onto certain Web sites, constituted a crime. Article 135 of the Criminal Procedure Code clearly lists the conditions required for legal wiretapping. The wiretapping of Gedik’s conservation constituted a crime.
The leaking of the conservation to the Web sites also constituted a crime in all aspects. Article 135 says all procedures concerning the wiretapping are confidential. A legal eavesdropping requires an investigation authorized by the prosecutor. Such tape records, which are obtained through the prosecutor’s permission, can only be available to the police and gendarme who did the eavesdropping as well as the Telecommunications Board. The leaking of these records to the outside implies the violation of the Article 135 and requires a jail sentence from one to three years for those who violated this confidentiality.