Gauging aftermath of Turkey’s great intelligence gaffe
Turkey's government and media are keeping mum about what appears to be the biggest blunder in the recent history of Turkish intelligence.
The latest scandal coming out of Turkey reads like a novel by Tom Clancy or John le Carre: spies, kidnapping, assassination attempts and terrorists. Given the seriousness of the allegations, the utter lack of reaction by Turkish officialdom and media is stunning.
Last week, Al-Monitor reported that militants in Iraqi Kurdistan claimed to have captured two high-level Turkish intelligence officials. Cemil Bayik, one of the top leaders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), claimed the officials had been sent to assassinate him.
Although Turkish media outlets are strictly controlled by the Turkish government and subservient to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the importance of the failed operation is extraordinary and unprecedented in the country's recent history, and there's no excuse for the silence of the Turkish mainstream media.
Under normal circumstances, the failure of such an intelligence operation would demand that a high price be paid — maybe not the resignations of myriad government officials, but at least the sacking of spy chief Hakan Fidan, head of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT). However, that hasn't happened.
