The other side of the coin

“Just as we did not hold Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responsible for acts committed by former Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ in the discussions regarding the arrest of Başbuğ so, too, it is not reasonable to hold Erdoğan responsible for acts by MİT. Both organizations -- MİT and the General Staff -- receive their orders from Erdoğan when it comes to the fight against terrorism. And if Başbuğ takes advantage of Erdoğan’s commands or if Fidan disobeys Erdoğan’s orders in negotiating with terrorists, to hold Erdoğan responsible for the conduct of these two institutions is nothing but manipulation,” says Bugün’s Gültekin Avcı, and adds that it is also worth considering that senior PKK leader Murat Karayılan and the BDP are defending MİT in the latest developments.

Yeni Şafak’s Yasin Doğan also says that a new opportunity for exploitation has emerged with the recent claims, saying that the terrorist PKK and KCK were founded and expanded by MİT. “The PKK aims to plant a certain image of the state in the minds of the people. According to that image, the state is repressive, despotic and bloodthirsty. Organizations that have political targets have to pay attention to the people’s support. And these organizations know very well the effect killing an innocent girl has on the people, and they justify their image of the state by using these kinds of incidents. The latest developments regarding MİT have provided the terrorist organizations PKK and KCK with a great opportunity to attack the state and the government. Spokespersons of these organizations and the BDP can now say that they were not the ones that carried out the brutal acts, and instead claim that the MİT agents were responsible,” says Doğan, adding that it is of the utmost importance for the intelligence and security agencies of the state to work in full coordination and dedication for the country’s fight against terrorism. He warns that the latest developments indicate the opposite; these agencies are facing the threat of psychological and systemic collapse.

Star’s Sedat Laçiner, on the other hand, remains hopeful that this crisis regarding MİT will be a milestone in the improvement of Turkey’s intelligence agency. However, this crisis also revealed that the notion of gathering intelligence is not understood well. “Examples in Europe and in the US show that the intelligence agencies are controlled by laws and the government. That means that even though the intelligence agency works under the prime minister, the judiciary is above the prime minister. Of course there could be professional misconduct in these agencies as happens in every field. But there can be no exception for intelligence agencies when it comes to abiding by the law,” says Laçiner, adding that crises are mostly opportunities for advanced societies to progress democratically.