A specially authorized prosecutor in Istanbul has ordered the detention of four National Intelligence Agency (MİT) members as part of the case into the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), broadcaster CNNTürk reported today.
The detention order included former MİT chief Emre Taner, former intelligence officer Afet Güneş and two other MİT members. The four were ordered to be “detained on sight” and brought to the Istanbul courthouse by the police.
A formal request was also placed with an Ankara prosecutor to receive the testimony of the current MİT undersecretary, Hakan Fidan.
Current MİT chief Hakan Fidan. AA photo
MİT rejected yesterday an Istanbul prosecutor’s invitation for its head to answer questions in an ongoing judicial process as the government lent its full support to the chief.
Specially authorized prosecutor Sadettin Sarıkaya’s unprecedented move to summon Fidan and the two former MİT officials had shaken Ankara, with some speculating on the existence of a simmering power struggle within the state.
According to MİT’s message to the prosecutor’s office, the MİT Act requires the permission of the prime minister before its members can be prosecuted. The organization also said that as MİT was located in Ankara, the request should be made by an Ankara-based court.
KCK is the alleged urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union
