Turkey's parliamentary commission on intelligence ‘as important as Armstrong’s step on moon’

A parliamentary commission that will oversee all intelligence activities in Turkey was established on Nov. 20, with the head of the commission describing the move as “similar to Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon.”

Parliament’s Security and Intelligence Commission will monitor intelligence activities and financial crimes, Alpaslan Kavaklıoğlu, the head of the commission, said on Nov. 20.

“The establishment of this commission is an important step for our democracy. It will be a move [as important as] Armstrong’s step on the moon,” Kavaklıoğlu added.

He said the commission had 17 members and detailed its functioning.

“This is a special commission that will have all meetings closed to the press. It is the first time such a commission has been founded in Turkey. According to the law, the activities of the National Intelligence Organization [MİT], the general directorate of security’s intelligence unit, the gendarmerie’s intelligence unit and the Financial Crimes Investigation Board [MASAK] will be written in a report, which will be submitted to the prime minister. The prime minister will send this report to us and we will discuss it for three months and then deliver our remarks to the office of the parliamentary speaker. This is the essence of this commission,” Kavaklıoğlu said.

However, he admitted that some of the commission members have very limited knowledge of the MİT, the security directorate, the gendarmerie and MASAK. “These commission members should have more knowledge about these institutions,” he said, without elaborating.