Turkey’s CHP seeks intel support to prevent ‘terrorist’ infiltration of party, draws criticism

Özgür Özel, the leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), announced that his party requested intelligence support from the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) to safeguard against potential infiltration by terrorist organizations in remarks that brought criticism for allowing the ruling party to profile its members.

The CHP leader explained during a program on the pro-government station TV100 on Thursday the purpose of a recent visit to the party by MİT President İbrahim Kalın, who it was speculated was there to provide a presentation and answer questions from CHP officials.

“We receive numerous [membership] applications at CHP’s offices abroad. To prevent FETÖ or other terrorist organizations from infiltrating the party during the membership process, we requested intelligence support from MİT,” Özel said, adding that MİT was willing to assist.

FETÖ is a derogatory acronym the Turkish government uses to refer to the faith-based Gülen movement, inspired by the late Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, as a terrorist organization.

According to the CHP leader, the meeting featured detailed presentations on the Gülen movement, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and affiliated Islamist terrorist organizations.

“Three specialists conducted the briefings, with Mr. Kalın contributing additional insights. Afterward, we posed 15 questions based on the information provided,” Özel said.

The MİT president’s visit followed criticism from CHP members, including party spokesman Deniz Yücel, after Kalın gave a presentation during a central executive board (MYK) meeting of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) about the death of Gülen.

Gülen, a Turkish cleric and Islamic scholar who had once been an ally but became a foe of President Erdoğan, passed away at a hospital in Pennsylvania on Oct. 20 at the age of 83. He had been living in the United States since 1999, but the movement he inspired had millions of followers in Turkey and around the world.

In 2016, Gülen was accused of initiating a failed coup attempt. He steadfastly denied any involvement.

The CHP leader’s request to MİT, widely perceived as an attempt to profile potential party members, sparked criticism on social media.

“Do you know that your member asks [the] assistance of Turkish intelligence to profile those [who] want to be [a] member [in] his party, the CHP?” Ali Yıldız, a Brussels-based lawyer and founder of The Arrested Lawyers Initiative, wrote in a tweet directed at Socialist International (SI), the global organization of political parties promoting democratic socialism.

“Here’s what they [the CHP] are essentially saying: ‘We personally send the information of everyone who applies to join the CHP to MİT.’ … How else could someone possibly harm their own party more?” economist İris Cibre said on X.

Yani şunu diyor
"Chp'ye her başvuru yapanın bilgilerini Mit'e elimizle yolluyoruz"

Her başvuran fişlenmiş oluyor iyi mi…

Bir insan bir partiye daha fazla nasıl zarar verebilir acaba? https://t.co/BQLCyFhPxS

— İris Cibre 🐦 (@iriscibre) November 21, 2024

History writer and journalist Yusuf Nazım also stated in a tweet that the support CHP requested from MİT implies that party membership applications will have to pass through the approval of the ruling AKP from now on.

In the wake of criticism, Özel issued a new statement on Friday, saying that his party’s request for assistance from MİT concerns only membership applications made abroad and not from within Turkey.

“Such a thing is out of the question for [membership applications] in Turkey. We are acting based on references [about people] from our party organizations,” Özel told reporters in Ankara.

Critics have long accused the CHP of doing politics within the boundaries set by Erdoğan and failing to put up strong resistance that could challenge the president’s ruling AKP.

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, former leader of the CHP, criticized Özel in late September for actions perceived to align with Erdoğan’s government and covering up its allegedly corrupt actions.