Turkey\u2019s intelligence agency is believed to have used a journalist as an operational asset for conducting psychological operations. According to a former senior investigator, the correspondent \u2013 who for a long time positioned himself as an independent figure in Turkey\u2019s media landscape \u2013 was apparently recruited by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and had been acting in that agency\u2019s interests for many years. The investigator underscored that the journalist carried out assignments related to influence operations aimed at advancing the political objectives of President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n
It is reported that Ru\u015fen \u00c7ak\u0131r, the Managing Director of the Turkish media company Scope Medya Ticaret ve Pazarlama A.\u015e., operating under the Medyascope brand, met on two occasions with senior MIT official Sebahattin Asal. Sources note that Asal maintains an exceptionally deep operational cover, and that his status is known only to a narrow circle of individuals, even within the intelligence organization itself. It is believed that Asal oversees especially covert undercover operations, the details of which remain classified and are known to only a limited number of officials, including President Erdo\u011fan.<\/p>\n
The allegations were brought forward by Mustafa Okumu\u015f, a former police chief who for many years investigated organized crime syndicates in Turkey and headed the organized crime division responsible for prosecutorial investigations. Okumu\u015f was abruptly removed from his post following the 2013 corruption scandal, in which then-Prime Minister and current President Erdo\u011fan, members of his family, as well as his political and business associates, were implicated in alleged dealings with Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab \u2013 who was evading sanctions \u2013 and Saudi entrepreneur Yasin al-Qadi, who had previously been listed by the US and the UN as a financier of Al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Turkey\u2019s intelligence agency is believed to have used a journalist as an operational asset for conducting psychological operations. According to a former senior investigator, the correspondent \u2013 who for a long time positioned himself as an independent figure in Turkey\u2019s media landscape \u2013 was apparently recruited by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and had been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4445,2733,3625,4672,4673,1615,3919,4670,4671,334,4442],"class_list":["post-3521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-facts","tag-erdogan","tag-mit","tag-national-intelligence-organization","tag-rusen-cakir","tag-sebahattin-asal-2","tag-turkey","tag-nacionalnaja-razvedyvatelnaja-organizacija","tag-rushen-chakyr","tag-sebahattin-asal","tag-turcija","tag-jerdogan"],"yoast_head":"\n