Erdogan Expands Powers over Intelligence Agency

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (AFP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (AFP)
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Erdogan Expands Powers over Intelligence Agency

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (AFP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (AFP)

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tightened his grip on Turkey's National Intelligence Organization on Friday after issuing a decree that said the MIT, which was previously under the prime minister, would now report to the president.

The decree gave the Turkish intelligence agency the power to investigate the defense ministry and Turkish armed forces personnel.

The president would also need to approve any request made for the MIT head, currently Hakan Fidan, to act as a witness in court.

In an other emergency decree, Turkey has dismissed over 900 public sector officials in the latest wave of the purge that followed last year's failed coup.

More than 140,000 people have been sacked or suspended including judges and prosecutors since July 2016 over alleged links to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey has accused of ordering the attempted coup. Gulen has denied the charges.

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim snapped back at German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who on Thursday said Turkey would never become a European Union member as long as Erdogan remains in power.

Gabriel should focus on his own country’s affairs and should not give us lessons, Yildirim said.

The German foreign minister had made the comments in response to Erdogan’s call on ethnic Turks in Germany to vote in the September 24 elections against Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and their coalition partners the Social Democrats.

Despite the tension, the German foreign ministry announced on Friday that it would not issue a travel warning to Turkey.

A ministry spokeswoman said that there is no such plan.

Relations between Berlin and Ankara have deteriorated sharply, particularly since the failed coup against Erdogan and a subsequent mass crackdown on its suspected plotters.



Nobel Laureate Mohammadi Says Iran Issuing Death Threats

Narges Mohammadi has been jailed repeatedly over the past 25 years - AFP
Narges Mohammadi has been jailed repeatedly over the past 25 years - AFP
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Nobel Laureate Mohammadi Says Iran Issuing Death Threats

Narges Mohammadi has been jailed repeatedly over the past 25 years - AFP
Narges Mohammadi has been jailed repeatedly over the past 25 years - AFP

Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, who won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her fight for women's and human rights in Iran, has received death threats from Tehran, the Nobel Committee said Friday.

Mohammadi, who has spent much of the past decade behind bars, was released from Tehran's Evin prison in December for a limited period on medical leave, with her legal team repeatedly warning that she could be re-arrested at any time, AFP reported.

Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes said in a statement he had received an "urgent phone call" from Mohammadi, 53, who said her life was now in danger.

"The clear message, in her own words, is that 'I have been directly and indirectly threatened with 'physical elimination' by agents of the regime'," he said.

"The threats conveyed to Ms. Mohammadi make it clear that her security is at stake, unless she commits to end all public engagement within Iran, as well as any international advocacy or media appearances in support of democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression," the statement added.

The Committee said it was "deeply concerned" about the threats against Mohammadi and "all Iranian citizens with a critical voice, and call upon the authorities to safeguard not only their lives, but also their freedom of expression."

Mohammadi has been repeatedly tried and jailed for her vocal campaigning against Iran's widespread use of capital punishment and its mandatory dress code for women.

She won the Nobel primarily for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran. Her children collected the award on her behalf as she was in prison at the time.