MİT wiretapped Taraf journalists, using foreign codenames

According to Taraf, the phones of Taraf Editor-in-Chief Ahmet Altan, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Yasemin Çongar, Taraf columnist Markar Esayan, former Taraf columnist Amberin Zaman and journalist and academic Professor Mehmet Altan were tapped by MİT between 2008 and 2009.

MİT was able to wiretap the phones of these journalists through court orders the organization received from the İstanbul 11th and 14th High Criminal Courts between 2008 and 2009. Publishing the copies of these court orders, Taraf wrote that the journalists were mentioned by their foreign codenames only in those court orders. The codenames are in foreign languages, mostly Arabic. The phone numbers of the Taraf journalists were also mentioned in the court order, which enabled the daily to identify which alias belonged to which journalist.

The goal of the technical monitoring is explained in the court ruling as to collect information about the individuals and their illegal actions ahead of acts of terrorism they might be involved in.

MİT’s involvement in the illegal wiretapping of journalists has been interpreted as a scandal by the journalists, who say they expect a satisfactory statement from MİT and the Prime Ministry.

Taraf’s Çongar said the moment they learned about the illegal wiretapping of their phones, they contacted MİT and were told that “MİT does not wiretap journalists.” Çongar said they would file a criminal complaint against MİT.

“We cannot accept claims that these wiretaps were made in order to prevent crimes and over suspicions of [our] membership in a terrorist organization. We are preparing to file a criminal complaint [against MİT] regarding the illegal wiretapping case,” Çongar said.

Altan said illegally wiretapping well-known columnists over charges of being a member of a terrorist organization is hair-raising. “I expect a statement from MİT, the Prime Ministry and the Justice Ministry about this scandal. The wiretaps were made quite recently. At a time when we talk about a new Turkey, which we always say is being transformed into an advanced democracy, this scandalous wiretapping practice needs to be clarified,” Altan said.

He also noted that if a satisfactory statement is not given by the government and MİT, he will file a criminal complaint against MİT.

Journalist Esayan, who is also a Today’s Zaman columnist, said it is very sad for an institution commissioned by the state to preserve the safety of the citizens to wiretap journalists with fake codenames.

“Our journalistic activities are obvious. I wonder which of our activities were seen as a threat and why this illegal wiretapping took place. We are faced with a situation similar to what [journalist] Mehmet Baransu faced when he was wiretapped by the gendarmerie. From this we understand that not only the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK] but other institutions as well need to become more transparent,” Esayan said, adding that he will also file criminal complaints against those who gave the order for the illegal wiretaps.

In the meantime, two MİT agents who had allegedly been following Taraf journalist Baransu for weeks were apprehended by police in İstanbul on Wednesday after a complaint by Baransu.

Baransu told reporters on Wednesday, after alerting the police about the suspects, that he saw the man who was following him at different places at different times. He stated that he was sitting with his bodyguard at a restaurant recently when he noticed a man and a blonde woman sitting nearby. He became suspicious because he had seen the two in Bakırköy, Tophane and Florya on different occasions.

The journalist said he was concerned and called the police to report the two. He added that it wasn’t only those two individuals that he has noticed, but that there were two others. He also said that when two individuals following him noticed that he was calling the police, they became anxious.

Baransu also told reporters on Wednesday that he had learned that the man and the woman who were following him were in fact employees of MİT. He added that a department head from MİT came to the police station where Baransu had filed a complaint about the two. The veteran journalist added that the chief of police told him an official from MİT wanted to meet him and that MİT employees had in fact been at the restaurant, but for other business. Baransu questions this explanation and refuses to meet with the department head.

MİT members Ç.Ç. and M.U.G. were taken to the Kocasinan Police Station in İstanbul’s Bahçelievler district, where police found wiretapping devices on their bodies. They were referred to a court in Bakırköy after which they were released.

Baransu and Turkey’s intelligence agency have been involved in a spat since last month over an airstrike on Dec. 28, 2011 that killed 34 smugglers. Turkish warplanes killed the civilians in an operation targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) when they mistook them for PKK members.

The tragedy was first blamed by some, including Taraf writer Baransu, on false intelligence provided by double agents inside the PKK employed by MİT, but the government and MİT have denied this. MİT released a statement following Baransu’s charges and accused the journalist of maliciously targeting the agency.

Baransu claimed on Dec. 30 that MİT agents inside the PKK had intentionally provided intelligence to the General Staff that a group of terrorists would be crossing the northern Iraqi border near Uludere nine days before the airstrike. The assertion also angered Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said on Dec. 30 that MİT had nothing to do with the attack.

“There was no last minute intelligence from MİT. There are tightrope-walkers disguised as columnists [making these allegations]. One would think that these tightrope-walkers in journalists’ clothing have bugged MİT, but they can’t get the right information,” the prime minister said.

A tightrope-walker in Turkish often refers to people who cunningly change their stance for personal gain.