Levent Kenez/Stockholm
Leaks in 2021 revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s family foundation, TÜGVA (Türkiye Gençlik Vakfı, Turkey Youth Foundation), had been crafting lists to determine who would be employed in state institutions. The leaks also exposed how the assets of foundations that were seized by the government following a controversial coup attempt in 2016 were distributed among various other foundations linked to the Erdogan family. A journalist-in-exile and a former foundation employee stood trial in connection with these leaks, with the former employee convicted and sentenced to prison. Documents presented to the court revealed that the foundation employee had been monitored by Turkish intelligence at the request of the foundation itself.
Former TÜGVA executive Ramazan Aydoğdu, who was accused of leaking the documents, revealed in court that TÜGVA executives had connections to the Security Directorate General (Emniyet) and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). Aydoğdu presented evidence to the court suggesting that TÜGVA executives, with the assistance of the police and intelligence agency, had obtained the identity and address information of certain social media users who had posted messages against TÜGVA.
In his defense, Aydoğdu also provided information from a WhatsApp group where Okan Özer, the then-deputy chairman of TÜGVA, informed executives of the leak. The shared message from Özer stated, “We have been having Aydoğdu monitored...
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has moved to reassure parents and learners that public schools will remain open at the end of April, dismissing widespread social media claims of a shutdown ...