February 15, 2012

Or is it Gülenophobia?

Merve Büşra Öztürk

Turkey’s frequently changing agenda has recently been dominated by one issue: An İstanbul prosecutor overseeing an investigation into a Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)-linked terrorist organization has asked the Ankara Prosecutor’s Office to hear the testimony of National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan and has obtained arrest warrants for four other MİT agents.

Scenarios explaining the attack on MİT

Merve Büşra Öztürk

The arrest warrants that have been issued for Turkey’s former intelligence chief, his deputy and two other intelligence agents continue to be extensively debated. The warrants were issued a day after Hakan Fidan, the current head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT), rejected a summons to testify in connection with an investigation into a suspected Kurdish terrorist organization.

Many Turkish observers said the judiciary’s move against the current and former spymasters amounts to a power struggle between rival branches of Turkey’s security forces -- the MİT and the police. Some also saw the attempt to force Fidan to testify as a direct challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. There is agreement among Turkish columnists that it is too soon to determine the real motive behind the arrest warrants; however, their columns are still full of possible scenarios.