Fear of operations in AKP corridors: What if our turn comes too!

The espionage investigation launched against Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and his advisor Necati Özkan has caused great concern in AKP corridors.

Party officials are expressing their concerns that the scope of the investigation may not be limited to the IMM, but could potentially involve all political parties.

COMMENTS ON VOTER DATA

Nefes newspaper columnist Nuray Babacan wrote a striking piece on the subject. According to Babacan, it is believed that the voter lists provided to parties by the Supreme Election Council (YSK) reveal a situation related to the violation of personal data, rather than "espionage."

It is stated that parties use this data for campaign purposes during election periods and that violations regarding the protection of personal data may occur during this process. The author notes that "the significant issue here could at most be a violation of the protection of personal data."

INTERNAL DISCUSSIONS AT THE YSK

Babacan also brought up the discussions within the YSK. The Supreme Election Council provides voter lists to all political parties, especially during election periods. It is noted that this data is provided to parties for purposes such as tracking duplicate votes.

However, it is stated that some YSK members argue that voter lists should not contain citizens' Turkish ID numbers, which would prevent the violation of personal data protection. Nevertheless, it is also noted that this decision is mostly accepted under the belief that duplicate vote tracking can only be performed using Turkish ID numbers.

Babacan states that this investigation is not only directed at Ekrem İmamoğlu and Necati Özkan through the IMM, but could become a situation that concerns all political parties.

It is known that the AKP, in particular, provides voter data to campaign companies and PR firms. Babacan states that if this data were to reach other places later, all parties could be under suspicion. It is reported that this possibility has created great anxiety among AK Party members.

POSES A RISK FOR ALL PARTIES

It is believed that this situation could affect not only the AKP but all other political parties as well. Arguing that the outcome of the investigation poses a major risk for all political parties, Babacan says, "With a little bit of forcing, all parties could be left under suspicion."

There is also concern that these developments could result in a ban on providing voter data to parties in the future. Babacan claims that this could have negative effects on the supervision and monitoring of elections. Stating that suspicions regarding the issue are increasing, she says, "Analyses are being made that this would also result in the obstruction of the supervision and monitoring of the upcoming election."