The chief of the Central Bank of Turkey has sacked at least 11 bureaucrats, including three senior managers, on suspicion that they shared information with an organization involved in espionage activity.
The Vatan daily claimed in a report on Tuesday that at least 11 employees of the central bank were accused of leaking classified state financial information to an organization involved in spying. The scandal was revealed as part of an investigation by an İzmir prosecutor into an espionage ring with members inside the Turkish military. None of the sacked bureaucrats are mentioned as either suspects or witnesses in the espionage investigation.
The central bank is already having a difficult time trying to defend the lira amid an investor sell-off.
Shortly after the scandal broke, central bank head Erdem Başçı terminated 11 employees and immediately appointed new staff members to replace them. Vatan also cited sources who said that the bank was divided over its head's decision to sack the employees suspected of spying. Some senior bureaucrats of the central bank questioned why Başçı was so quick to fire these staff members without an investigation.
Başçı, according to sources, also briefed Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan about the scandal. At the request of the sacked employees, the central bank has launched an administrative investigation into the allegations. The terminated bureaucrats also reportedly vowed to sue the central bank administration for firing them without a proper investigation.
No one from the central bank or government has commented on the issue so far.
The gang allegedly carried out activities to sabotage the work of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the government, hiring foreign women as prostitutes to send to military officers from whom the gang later obtained classified military information, according to the indictment. The gang then sold that information to foreign countries.
Deemed among the worst crimes against the state, it is almost impossible for a person charged and found guilty of spying to find
