The British intelligence chief's espionage call in Istanbul... The terrorist leader's complaint... And the Tele 1 operation!..

The explanation regarding the "espionage" operation targeting Ekrem İmamoğlu and his associates, and especially journalist-author Merdan Yanardağ, felt like the script for a new intelligence series about to begin on TRT or a pro-government channel. However, the issue became clear when Merdan Yanardağ was detained at the crack of dawn, a search was conducted at Tele 1, and a trustee was appointed to the channel that same evening.

Supposedly, there is a confidentiality order on the investigation; yet, the pro-government media is back at work, publishing page after page of reports.

It is claimed that documents belonging to a person named Hüseyin Gün, who was arrested on July 4 on charges of espionage and conducting intelligence activities in favor of foreign countries, contained connections to many individuals from the British Intelligence Service MI6 and Mustafa Özcan, one of the fugitive imams of "FETÖ".

Two of the headlines used by the pro-government media are as follows:

"MI6 connection documented, FETÖ trace found... Asked British intelligence about Erdoğan"

WHAT SPIES WE HAVE SEEN

With all the nation's information laid out as if it were being offered on the stock exchange, with it being unknown who is developing the state's software, and with all sorts of dubious characters running wild in the country, it is incomprehensible that Merdan Yanardağ, in particular, is being accused of spying for Israel.

When it comes to an "espionage operation," one cannot help but recall the following.

US Pastor Andrew Brunson was arrested on charges of spying for "FETÖ". Erdoğan said, "As long as this poor man is in this office, you cannot take the terrorist. Because a Muslim is not bitten from the same snake hole twice." But when Trump threatened, "I will destroy your economy," he was sent off in a hurry...

Again, Erdoğan announced that German citizen journalist Deniz Yücel was a "complete agent-terrorist" and that they had footage of him. But when Germany pressured, he was released on the day his indictment was issued and sent to his country on a plane kept waiting by Germany...

And what about the incident in November 2021, when an Israeli couple was detained and arrested on "espionage" charges for filming Erdoğan's residence from the Çamlıca Tower?! Israel was up in arms. Then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated that "the claims of the Turkish state media that this duo were 'spies' did not reflect the truth" and said that "Israel's highest-level officials, led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are dealing with this issue and working to find a solution as soon as possible." Someone from Israel came and met with this couple. A few days later, we saw Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid take them away by plane, and subsequently, the Israeli Prime Minister and Foreign Minister "thanked the President of Turkey and his government for their cooperation." We also heard that Turkey had requested a "thank you letter" from Israel and that Israel had sent this letter...

WHAT HAPPENED ON SEPTEMBER 19

Regarding the "espionage" accusation against Ekrem İmamoğlu and his associates and Merdan Yanardağ; based on the information that Hüseyin Gün, who caused the operation to be carried out, had saved an MI6 member in his phone contacts as "a friend of former MI6 Chief Richard Moore," let us recall the following:

Moore, who became the head of MI6 after serving as Ambassador to Ankara between 2014-2018, held a press conference at the British Consulate General in Istanbul on September 19, together with the new Chief Blaise Metreweli, who will take over the position from him on October 1.

The reason for this meeting by Moore, who refers to Turkey as his "second home," was to introduce a project they developed called "Silent Courier" to communicate with spies from other countries around the world, especially Russia, and to obtain secret information. Indeed, before Moore, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper had said about the project, "MI6 will be able to recruit new spies for the UK in Russia and around the world."

At that meeting, Richard Moore not only introduced the project in question and made a call to those who want to work as agents, but also emphasized that they are conducting close cooperation with the former head of the MIT, Hakan Fidan, and the current head, İbrahim Kalın.

Moore explained why he chose Istanbul for this speech, which CHP's Namık Tan described as a "global launch for Putin opponents" and journalist Cansu Çamlıbel as an "Alo MI6 promotion," as follows:

"My choice of Istanbul is not limited to emotional reasons: Turkey, as it has been for centuries, has critical importance for the international system today. In almost every issue I have dealt with as MI6 Chief, Turkey has been a key player. As a NATO ally, Turkey has been a strong supporter of Ukraine's sovereignty, especially influenced by the tragedy experienced by Crimean Tatars, who are their ethnic kin, but above all, by remaining committed to international law and the UN Charter."

The details and comments conveyed by Cansu Çamlıbel, who followed this meeting along with many journalists, including those from TRT, Anadolu Agency, NTV, CNN Türk, and Habertürk, were important.

For example, Moore proudly recounted that they had established relations with HTS 2 years before overthrowing Assad.

According to Çamlıbel, one of the purposes behind this visit by Moore was to introduce his successor, the first female chief Blaise Metreweli, to his Turkish counterparts, and this perhaps took place before or after the meeting.

Çamlıbel commented on "why the MI6 Chief chose Turkey to challenge all Russians, Chinese, and Iranians in the world" as follows:

"It seems there is a need to emphasize that Turkey is an 'undisputed' actor of the NATO bloc! There is also a dimension of conflict that could extend to the internal power balances in Turkey, which is quite a spectacle! The leader of the MHP, a partner in the ruling alliance, Devlet Bahçeli, suddenly proposed a 'TRÇ' (Turkey-Russia-China) alliance consisting of Turkey-Russia-China against the 'US-Israel evil coalition.' The next day, the MI6 Chief made his promotion from Istanbul to all Russians and even Chinese and Iranians in Russia and the world that 'becoming our agent is now just a message away.' On the evening of the same day, US President Donald Trump announced that he would finally host President Erdoğan at the White House on September 25. What a coincidence!"

Finally, Çamlıbel asked:

"Let's see how Russia will respond to the fact that the Turkish side did not object to the MI6 Chief Moore's press conference challenging them being held in Istanbul? By the way, was the AKP government fully aware of what Moore would say at the press conference, or were they faced with a fait accompli?"

Similar questions came from Deniz Kilislioğlu, a columnist for the pro-government newspaper Milliyet. Kilislioğlu said, "He explained the reason for holding this statement in Turkey with his 'love for this country' and 'Turkey's key role in the international system,' but of course, this explanation was not very satisfying. The journalists invited to the meeting could not find an answer to this deep question, but surely there are people in Ankara who know the answer to this question."

Journalist Barçın Yinanç, who evaluated the event as "treating Turkey like a tribal state," wrote the following harsh lines:

"The possibility that the Turkish side was unaware of the content of Moore's press conference in Istanbul is a scandal; that they were aware and gave the green light is another scandal. While the AK Party government is trying to make amends with Putin on one hand, approving the call to recruit agents to overthrow the Russian leader from a location five minutes' walking distance from the Russian Consulate in Istanbul means that no one takes Turkey seriously anymore... While referring to Putin's most serious rival, Navalny, who was first imprisoned and then killed, did it not cross his mind for a moment that the mayor of the city he was a guest in is in prison?.. Moore's press conference is the most concrete indicator that Turkey is no longer a serious state and is not taken seriously. This diplomatic disgrace can only be explained in two ways: The government is willing to swallow any kind of diplomatic insult so that no one speaks up or objects while it strangles the opposition in front of everyone's eyes. Or, as in every field, there is a management crisis in international relations... Or both. We live in a country that has lost its international respect and seriousness. The worst part is that Turkey's international counterparts are also aware of this."

THE "OCTOPUS'S OVERSEAS ARMS" ARTICLE IN SABAH ON SEPTEMBER 23

Moore's meeting was also covered in the pro-government newspaper Sabah. Mahmut Övür said on September 21, "What's going on, why did the British agent choose Turkey to announce this? This reminds me of the famous James Bond author Ian Fleming, who appeared in Beyoğlu during the events of September 6-7, 1955, in Istanbul. We will soon see what they are after this time. Nothing is the same anymore."

In his article titled "Richard Moore and the IMM file" on September 23, after emphasizing that no plausible answer was given by diplomatic circles to the question "why did he choose Turkey?", he linked the issue to Ekrem İmamoğlu by citing Barçın Yinanç's expression, "The experienced British spy/diplomat gave his speech in a country where a witch hunt is taking place, where we will be accused of espionage for stepping into the British Consulate one day.":

"I can hear you saying 'What does that have to do with it?' Indeed, what does it have to do with it? When was there a 'witch hunt' related to espionage in this country? Presumably, the operations against MOSSAD or other intelligence organizations that were previously referred to the judiciary are not meant. So what is meant? Presumably, the upcoming process is meant. Those who go in and out of there are being talked about. This is what I found interesting. I don't know if Yinanç knows something, but there is a reality that concerns Turkey itself behind Richard Moore and his successor holding a press conference in Istanbul. Their talk about Syria or things that will provoke Russia is just the 'threat' and 'look at the acrobat' part of the business... Turkey is being warned through these two countries. In this country, the number of politicians and funded journalists whose loyalty to the Queen is well-known is not small at all. At one point, Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is under arrest on charges of 'corruption,' leaving Istanbul, which was surrendered to the storm, and meeting with the British ambassador at a fish restaurant was much discussed in this vein. This was a Zelensky project and it has other legs. Don't say 'Where did this come from?'... When this IMM-centered corruption investigation started, President Erdoğan made a very striking observation: 'The arms of the octopus extending from Istanbul to Turkey and abroad are being exposed one by one.' Could this possibility be what brought Turkey's 'friend' Richard Moore to Istanbul? The indictment regarding the IMM file will be announced in the middle of next month. Will that indictment only contain 'corruption' or will the octopus's arms extending abroad also be included? Maybe then those who do not blush from corruption will blush."

Again, Mahmut Övür evaluated the MI6 boss holding a meeting in Istanbul and the US-Russia secret services meeting in Turkey on October 11 as, "Important signs of the new era. It is not for nothing that the definition of 'central country' is used."

LET US NOT FORGET THE TERRORIST LEADER'S COMMAND

Returning to the Merdan Yanardağ and Tele 1 operation;

We do not know what kind of "crime" elements were found on television that led to the appointment of a trustee. It was revealed yesterday that the videos uploaded to YouTube after the trustee appointment began to be deleted, and then Tele 1's YouTube channel was completely removed.

In other words, Tele 1 was completely silenced while Yanardağ was still in custody.

In that case, shouldn't we also remember the statement made by Imralı spokesperson Pervin Buldan 15 days ago?

After stating that the terrorist leader complained about "many channels and commentators continuing their hostile language," Buldan stated that this was not a problem they could solve, saying, "Because when we look, today the media is in the hands of the government, and the judiciary is in the hands of the AKP. We are talking about a government that has all the power and dominates every area of life. Therefore, it is again the government's duty to improve and eliminate all of these. But I would also like to state that no progress has been made on this issue."

Yıldıray Oğur, one of the "useful idiots" of the Ergenekon-Balyoz conspiracy era, also noted that the terrorist leader had been watching Sözcü TV and Tele 1 for some time and claimed that he was complaining about these two channels. The Imralı delegation argued that the terrorist leader did not name any channels; but, what a coincidence, this is what happened to Tele 1!..

THE MESSAGE IS VERY BIG

To summarize; how are Tele 1 and Merdan Yanardağ known?

Yes, plenty of space was given to DEM members in the programs; but the comments and news against the opening process were also frequent enough to disturb the terrorist leader and the proponents of the opening...

Moreover, they were clearly defending the Eurasianist line against US-Israeli imperialism, that is, Turkey's cooperation with Russia, Iran, and China...

Let us also add the "espionage" call made by MI6 Chief Richard Moore 1 month ago in Istanbul against Russia, Iran, and China, and the meeting between Trump and Erdoğan on September 25, which targeted these three countries...

Doesn't it become clear as day how comprehensive the message given by the Tele 1 operation is?!

With my best wishes to Merdan Yanardağ and our friends at Tele 1...

Müyesser YILDIZ

October 26, 2025