ANKARA — Turkey has been struck by another military scandal.
Police have been raiding suspected strongholds of a blackmail ring with links to the Turkish military. Turkish sources said 35 people have been identified, most of them soldiers as well as government scientists.
“They have been accused of using classified data to spy on the military and government,” a Turkish source said.
In 2010, the military has come under increasing pressure from the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan.
On Oct. 25, Turkish police were said to have raided nearly 100 buildings throughout Turkey. The detainees, linked to foreign intelligence agencies, were said to have included four members of the state-owned Tubitak, the Turkish acronym of Scientific and Technical Research Council.
The sources said police found classified documents obtained by the blackmail ring, including Army, Navy and Air Force reports. They said the suspects were also accused of destroying or forging national security documents.
Police were also allowed to search military facilities. The sources cited a police raid of the Electronic Systems Command, assigned to the General Staff.
None of the suspects has been identified, but the sources said the detainees began as a ring in the Navy that blackmailed senior officers to relay classified data.
On Oct. 27, the National Security Council, chaired by Erdogan, met the new military command, including Chief of Staff Gen. Isik Kosaner.
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2010/me_turkey1116_11_11.asp, November 11, 2010