Turkish security service rejects summons over PKK talks

The national intelligence agency controlled by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan rebuffed a demand from state prosecutors that it answer questions on Thursday about secret talks it held with PKK members, media reports said.
Hakan Fidan was personally appointed by Erdogan as head of the National Intelligence Agency (MIT). The summons, a very rare imposition for the powerful agency, has raised speculation in political parties and media that police and judiciary could be under the sway of factions competing with Erdogan for influence.

At the heart of the current investigation are talks which MIT officials held with PKK member in Oslo and which came to light last year through recordings on the internet. Opposition parties accuse the government of seeking a secret peace accord and said the summons revealed a power struggle.
"The developments in the National Intelligence Agency, police and judiciary axis create the impression of a power struggle," said Erdogan Toprak, deputy chairman of the main opposition CHP party.

Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said he saw no evidence of MIT having done anything wrong in the contacts or in infiltrating PKK

"What I see here, looking at the recent developments, is that no crimes were committed, that a duty was carried out," Bozdag told reporters in parliament.

"It is the organization's primary duty to infiltrate the terrorist organizations and gather information," he added.

MIT challenged the summons in a statement to prosecutors, saying they did not have the authority to make such a demand.

Officials were not immediately for comment.

Media reports said prosecutors wanted to ask about the intelligence agency's infiltration of the PKK and how that had affected the state's fight against the militants.

Erdogan's government has reined in the power of the military and pushed through reforms in the judiciary that some critics see as part of an attempt to consolidate his government's power -- something the prime minister denies. Factional rivalries have become endemic in the power structure of the Turkish state.

The call to question the intelligence chief is the latest in a series of judicial investigations that have shocked Turkey after the detention of many senior military figures in connection with alleged plots to overthrow the government.

A former head of the military, General Ilker Basbug, is awaiting trial for alleged coup plotting. Many other top officers are among hundreds charged in conspiracy cases related to an alleged nationalist network called Ergenekon that aimed to topple the ruling AK Party because of its Islamist roots.

President Abdullah Gul met Fidan at the presidential palace in Ankara on Thursday and was to seee Erdogan afterwards for what were billed as regular weekly talks.

REUTERS