ANKARA
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday everybody and everything will be investigated to find the "pawns and the mastermind behind" responsible for eavesdropping of a high-level security meeting.
"This is not an attack on the AK Party. This is an attack on the Turkish Republic," said Davutoglu. "Because we were talking about the security of Turkish army and land in the meeting."
Speaking to the private Turkish news channel NTV, Davutoglu said the "cyber-attack" was no different from a military attack, and the meeting room had already been jammed for security. The foreign minister said Turkey is a state of laws and there will be a response accordingly.
A video that appeared Thursday on YouTube showed that the meeting between Foreign Minister Davutoglu, intelligence chief Hakan Fidan, the armed forces’ second commander, Yasar Guler, and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu was spied on as they discussed possible threats to sovereign Turkish territory in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
Davutoglu also blamed Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition party, which is known as the CHP, for calling on the army and the bureaucracy to resist any government orders to launch a possible war on Syria. The main opposition leader claimed in a television program that there were rumors about Turkey launching a war against Syria on March 20.
"He should make an explanation," Davutoglu said of Kilicdaroglu. "If the CHP were the ruling party, would the army serve them? No. The army serves the republic."
Turkey's foreign minister added the conversation heard in the recording had been "manipulated".
englishnews@aa.com.tr
