National Intelligence Organization

A number of main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) lawmakers have said they are not surprised by their leader’s claim that the government and the country’s intelligence agency are conspiring against the party.

Turkey’s government and the country’s intelligence agency are conspiring against the Republican People’s Party (CHP) through media operations in order to weaken the party’s image and stir up fresh trouble, the CHP leader has claimed.

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.”

A deputy from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has filed a parliamentary question to the prime minister over claims that Internet trolls linked to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have established firms to cover up illegal wiretapping activity and to deceive the Telecommunications Directorate (TİB), daily Cumhuriyet reported Nov. 9.

The first attempt to resolve the Kurdish problem, known as the Oslo Process, was secretly launched in 2009, but failed after talks between the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and senior leaders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were leaked onto the Internet in 2011.

Turkey has spent over $600 million on a new presidential jet and presidential palace this year, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has revealed, noting that the budget purse strings will be loosened for the facility more next year.

The killing of three unarmed Turkish soldiers - strolling around in their civilian clothes during their weekend leave on Oct. 25 in Yüksekova, southeastern Turkey, further escalated tension in the Kurdish issue, which has been lingering in the air for weeks. They were deliberately killed by gun fire, shot in the back of their heads in the middle of the market street.

At first sight, everything seems to be on track.

Sırrı Süreyya Önder from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) phoned me to explain in his own terms the course of the process since Sept. 3. There were two critical points in Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s recent explanation of the process. The first of these was the document named the “road map.”

Turkish security forces have seized suicide vests, bombs and guns in a recent raid, after the National Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) warned of possible terrorist attacks by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.