The recording of a strategic meeting at the Turkish Foreign Ministry leaked a few days before the March 30 local elections, demonstrated that the already frightening level of espionage within the state was beyond imaginable. A significant disinformation campaign was waged over those recordings. Those who wiretapped the meeting, leaked it and then exploited it, tried to significant commotion in order to change public perception to their own advantage.

Their purpose was to portray Turkey as an aggressive power that wanted to declare war on Syria. They wanted to pressure the AK Party government and alter the election results. So, what was the truth? What happened at the meeting? What was spoken?

Last Friday, I was briefed on all these questions by a senior official.

The facts about the meeting as told to me are as follows: "The meeting took place one day after the Süleyman Shah military post was surrounded by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) militants on the evening of March 12. Three state institutions convened to discuss the situation, as is normal procedure.

The aim was to discuss what should be done about the threat ISIL posed to 28 Turkish soldiers stationed at the post and four border gates. This was a preliminary meeting and afterward a main meeting took place. The released recordings had been edited, shortening a 59-minute meeting to 13 minutes. The main topic was how to eliminate a foreign-sourced national security threat. The conclusion reached was that if a single bullet landed on that land, its security would be established. There was no discussion that could be construed as planning to start a war. War is waged against a state and there was no state targeting Turkey, just a group. Despite the impression they some tried to create, the National Intelligence Agency (MİT) Chairman Hakan Fidan was briefing officials on the possible risks. Turkey has no intention to withdraw from the land around the Süleyman Shah post. Any withdrawal would be seen as a sign of weakness against al-Qaeda anyway."

According to the Turkish official, the Süleyman Shah military post in Syria, which is the only Turkish land outside of Turkey's borders, is surrounded by fighters loyal to the al-Qaeda linked ISIL, which is responsible for daily massacres in Syria. Due to this threat, relevant state institutions held a meeting. The aim was to formulate a strategy for the Republic of Turkey to counter this threat. Some people recorded it and then doctored it in order to manipulate the public agenda before leaking it. The effort aims to create a public perception that "Turkey is after declaring war against Syria." The source added that there is another odd angle, which is the fact that those who leaked the recording of the meeting where a solution is developed against the al-Qaeda threat, for some time have also been trying to create the impression that Turkey is supporting al-Qaeda.

This demonstrates how dangerous the Gülen Movement, which has established a parallel structure within the state, really is.

This movement wants to control the state, weaken the elected government and criminalize its policies. Their aim is to rule Turkey, where who wins in the elections doesn't matter. That's why they are trying to create trouble in the international stage for the AK Party government by attempting to portray it as aiding al-Qaeda and trying to wage a war against Syria. In the past, generals used to do this. However, they, with their tanks and guns, played their cards openly. These are much less insidious. That's why they even attacked the republic's state traditions and showed they didn't care about the lives of our soldiers. They tried to portray Turkey as a country that could cooperate with al-
Qaeda, the world's most dangerous terrorist organization.