The Republican People's Party (CHP) has asked Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) for help against the infiltration of terrorist groups into the party, according to its chief Özgür Özel.
The CHP has asked the intelligence agency for support in combing out applications for memberships in overseas branches, Özel told a Turkish broadcaster on Thursday, a day after MIT chief Ibrahim Kalın briefed the party about Türkiye’s ongoing counterterrorism operations.
At a meeting with Özel and his delegation at the CHP headquarters in the capital Ankara, Kalın shared information about the ongoing efforts against the PKK, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and Daesh terrorists and explained MIT’s strategies against the aforementioned terrorist groups.
He told the CHP delegation that Türkiye has been striving to obstruct the PKK terrorist group and its offshoot YPG’s efforts to create a “terror corridor” along the Türkiye-Syria border, security sources said.
He also told them that the top intelligence agency is busily working on various issues, including organized crime, cyber espionage, regional conflicts, global threats and more, to protect national security.
“We receive many applications at CHP offices abroad and we asked the MIT for intelligence support so FETÖ or other terrorist groups won’t infiltrate our party during admissions,” Özel said.
“Now that we are preparing to open CHP offices in many U.S. states, there is a serious risk there,” Özel said, referring to the large number of FETÖ members who found safe haven in the U.S. following the terrorist group’s foiled coup attempt in Türkiye in 2016.
Until his death at 83 in October, FETÖ ringleader Fetullah Gülen enjoyed police protection at his Pennsylvania residence for years, despite dozens of extradition requests from Türkiye over his role in orchestrating the bloody coup by FETÖ’s military infiltrators.
Özel said the CHP is also wary about the PKK presence in Germany.
“Anything (PKK) says there, costs our party heavily, which is very dangerous,” Özel argued.
“MIT said they would gladly be of assistance on this matter,” the CHP leader said, welcoming a “positive outcome” from the meeting.
The PKK, classified as an "ethno-nationalist" terrorist organization by the EU's law enforcement agency Europol, has been banned in Germany since 1993.
Türkiye has long urged its NATO ally Germany to take stronger action against the PKK, stressing that the terrorist group uses the country as a platform for recruitment, propaganda and fundraising activities.
In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people.
The PKK relies on its supporters and pro-PKK political groups across Europe and mainly uses the continent for illicit drug trafficking as a major financial engine to support its activities.
Özel’s remarks also come on the heels of a crackdown on one of CHP mayors in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district, Ahmet Özer.
Özer was arrested last month by anti-terrorist police over his connection to the PKK, namely giving jobs to PKK members, paying and receiving funds from an organization linked to the PKK and routinely contacting PKK members.
The CHP has since vehemently denied Özer’s alleged ties to the terrorist group, with Özel attempting to rally other mayors to protest Özer’s arrest despite criticism from own members.
