Striking claim from journalist Alican Uludağ: Judicial files are being leaked against CHP municipalities

Uludağ stated that confidential investigation files from prosecutors' offices are being leaked to the DMM to be used against CHP-run municipalities and are then served to pro-government media outlets.

According to Uludağ, the operation in which 13 people were detained as part of a concert investigation into the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality has brought the functioning of this mechanism to light. Before the public was aware of the details of the operation, an "information note" prepared by the DMM was sent to the managers of newspapers and television channels close to the government.

The title of this note was "Concert Investigation into Ankara Metropolitan Municipality with Questions and Answers," and it contained allegations of 759 million liras in concert expenditures and 154 million liras in public loss. The text explicitly stated that the information was obtained directly from the prosecutor's office by using the phrase "According to the findings of judicial authorities." Attached to this note was a document containing summaries of "expert" and "MASAK" (Financial Crimes Investigation Board) reports from the investigation file.

In his report, Uludağ claims that this mechanism was established when a former press advisor to the Ministry of Interior was added to the WhatsApp group created by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to inform the press. It is alleged that this person, who served as a press advisor during Süleyman Soylu's tenure as minister, started working at the DMM after leaving his post and enabled the leaking of judicial information by having himself added to the chief prosecutor's group.

Uludağ argued that this situation is not limited to Ankara, and that the details of operations conducted against CHP-run municipalities in other cities, particularly Istanbul, were similarly sent to the pro-government media as "information note news."

Journalist Alican Uludağ included the following statements in his post:

"I will tell you about the incident where the judicial organization, which is tasked with being "independent" and "impartial" under the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, has its files on CHP municipalities leaked directly to the Center for Combating Disinformation (DMM) affiliated with the Presidential Directorate of Communications, and how the DMM uses this information for "black propaganda" purposes against the CHP.

Do you remember? There was the Western Study Group (BÇG) in Turkey, which was also the subject of an investigation. The "BÇG," which was stated to have been established by the General Staff during the February 28 period and used against the Erbakan government of the time. A fundamental duty of the BÇG was to ensure that news reports were published in the press against the Erbakan government. Judicial files were also used for this. That BÇG is history, but now the DMM has arrived.

How, you ask?

The event was exposed by the operation today in which 13 people were detained in the concert investigation into the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality. Before the public even knew the details of the operation against the ABB, an "information note" in the form of a news report reached the managers of newspapers and television channels close to the government. That information note sent by the DMM is currently sitting as evidence in the WhatsApp chats of those journalists; the name of the sender is there too... This information note bore the title, "Concert Investigation into Ankara Metropolitan Municipality with Questions and Answers. Scandalous Allegations at Ankara Metropolitan Municipality: 759 Million in Concert Expenditures, 154 Million in Public Loss." In the continuation of the news, 9 separate "questions" were written, and it was explained as an "answer" below how the ABB committed "corruption" in concert tenders. The DMM even did not neglect to cite a source while answering the questions in the news text by saying "According to the findings of judicial authorities." In other words, it was openly admitting that it had received this information from the prosecutor's office. There was also a document attached that appeared to have been prepared by the prosecutor's office. This document had been sent by the prosecutor's office to the DMM to be used in the news to be written. In this document, summaries were extracted from documents such as the "research report," "expert report," and "MASAK report" in the file. In fact, the details of the investigation regarding the ABB had been turned into "ready-to-use" news. They did not want the pro-government journalists to get tired. Some journalists tweeted this text as is, and some had it published as news on the news websites of the newspapers they work for.

So, how did these documents reach the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office?

When I researched the subject, a number in a WhatsApp group created by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to inform the press was striking. This number was none other than the press advisor from Süleyman Soylu's time as Minister of Interior. That press advisor had moved to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism after Soylu left. However, it is now understood that Süleyman Soylu's press advisor started working at the DMM. That was not enough; he had himself added to the Ankara Chief Prosecutor's press group. No one even said, "This is a press group, what is a DMM official doing here?" After all, our judiciary is independent. This situation clearly reveals that the information regarding the operation organized against the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, for which Melih Gökçek gave the signal before anyone else, was sent by the prosecutor's office to the DMM to be used against the CHP.

So, did this situation only happen in Ankara?

No. When I conducted a retrospective search, it is understood that the details of operations carried out against the CHP and Ekrem İmamoğlu in other cities, especially Istanbul, were similarly sent to pro-government journalists as "information note news" by the DMM. Moreover, these journalists shared this news on their Twitter accounts and published it on their news sites without changing a single comma. This picture supports the criticisms that the operations against CHP-run municipalities are political.

So, does the Center for Combating Disinformation have such authority?

No.

So, is the DMM a legal organization?

It is controversial. Because the Constitutional Court, with its decision (AYM, E.2020/88, K.2023/224, 27/12/2023, § …), clearly found the Directorate of Communications' authority to "combat disinformation" to be contrary to freedom of the press and canceled it. Was a legal regulation made for the Directorate of Communications to perform this duty? No.

The DMM must answer these questions:

On what legal basis does the Center for Combating Disinformation operate; does it employ personnel and pay salaries? With what authority do you take information from the content of investigations by an independent and impartial judiciary and turn it into news against the CHP? Is this black propaganda mechanism not a copy of the BÇG that you frequently criticized during the February 28 period? And you, members of the judiciary who must be constitutionally independent and impartial! In what capacity are you sending information from the confidential investigation files in your possession to an organization of the executive branch? Is the judiciary the backyard of the Palace?"

News Source: 12punto