3 takeaways from Erdoğan's MİT speech by Murat Yetkin

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in his speech at the 97th-anniversary ceremony of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) on January 10, requested that public institutions use messaging applications developed by Turkish companies under the guidance of MİT.

The three takeaways drawn by journalist Murat Yetkin on January 10 from President Erdoğan's speech at the MİT's 97th-anniversary ceremony are as follows:

The relevant section of Yetkin's article is as follows:

“We are aware that the upright and resolute stance Turkey has displayed in regional crises, especially the massacres in Gaza, has disturbed some and disrupted the calculations of others. The recent intensification of espionage activities directed at our country is just one of the manifestations of this discomfort.”

First takeaway: Espionage activities directed at Turkey are increasing. Does this espionage activity originate only from Israel, as in the example given by Erdoğan? Which other countries and organizations are seeing an increase in espionage activities? Among these, are there regional rivals such as Russia, Iran, or Arab countries, in addition to Turkey's NATO allies like the USA and Greece? Besides the low-level spies—mostly Palestinians—working on behalf of Israel, have there been spies from other countries who were caught and handed over to the judiciary, or deported?

“We follow with pride the successes of MİT in preventing cyberattacks against state officials and critical institutions.”

Second takeaway: We learn that during the process we are going through, cyberattacks have been carried out against state officials and critical institutions, and these have been prevented by MİT. I wonder who these attacks were directed at, which institutions were targeted, and who was behind them? Have any of them been caught, handed over to the judiciary, or punished?

“With the widespread use of smartphones, the use of foreign messaging applications among public officials has also increased. Unfortunately, much information, documents, notes, and files belonging to our official institutions are also being shared through these applications. It is clear that this situation creates a serious vulnerability in terms of information security.”

Third takeaway: The President says that high-level public officials are sharing official information and documents from their mobile phones and that this creates an information security vulnerability. I wonder if any classified information or documents have fallen into the hands of hostile countries and organizations through this method? Erdoğan continued by saying that some European countries have imposed restrictions on “public personnel at certain levels and positions,” and requested that public institutions use messaging applications developed by Turkish companies under the guidance of MİT. Will MİT guarantee the competence and security of this software? If problems arise again, will MİT be responsible for them? And in this way, will all unofficial correspondence conducted through those applications, as well as official ones, pass through MİT's filter?

News Source: 12punto