According to the news of Abdurrahman Şimşek from Sabah; In a critical period when Turkey found a total of 405 billion cubic meters of natural gas resources in the Sakarya basin in the Black Sea and conducted drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, a cell carrying out energy espionage activities against our country was destroyed. SABAH is revealing to the public for the first time its red-handed operation against an internationally operating energy espionage cell. An energy company manager named Emel Öztürk, who leaked confidential information to a foreign company, the energy giant Turkey imports, was arrested on charges of political and military espionage. Emel Öztürk was the assistant general manager of an international private company, that is, she was the number two name of the company. Within the scope of the investigation conducted by Istanbul Public Prosecutor Gökalp Kökçü, five cell members working with Öztürk were reached as a result of the investigations carried out for months by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the Istanbul Financial Crimes Branch Directorate.
INFORMATION LEAKED TO FOREIGN COMPANY
class=”medianet-inline-adv”>
According to the information and documents obtained, the first clues regarding the energy espionage scandal emerged upon the investigation of a denunciation made to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on April 6, 2020. Since the issue falls within the scope of espionage, MIT Istanbul Regional Presidency provided information and documents to the prosecutor’s office during the investigation process, as well as the Istanbul Financial Crimes Branch Directorate. When the investigation was deepened, it was determined that the suspect Emel Öztürk was in contact with the persons named BVY, LSS and LDO from the foreign company. It was determined that Öztürk sent cosmic information to BVY via e-mail, which affects our country’s economy and causes/may lead to billions of dollars in economic loss. It was also detected that the suspect Öztürk made a statement in an e-mail correspondence as “Our foreign friends are waiting for this month’s information”.
CONTACTING A SPY
It was understood that Emel Öztürk also had a romantic relationship with a person named GS, an intelligence officer in the consulate general of a country, and shared the confidential information she obtained with this person. It was also determined that Öztürk said “Mine is also an agent” about the intelligence officer GS with whom he had a relationship. When the studies on who and how Emel Öztürk obtained the confidential information subject to the investigation were deepened, the other members of the cell working in the energy sector, Serkan Özbilgin, Mustafa F., Murat K., Arzu G. and Gürcan Ö. were reached. Within the scope of the investigation, the technical and physical follow-up processes were completed and the button was pressed for the operation. A jet indictment was issued against the suspects who were detained last month. According to the indictment, the contents of the mails and suspicious documents on the phones of the individuals within the scope of the investigation were asked to the General Directorate of Legal Services of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. The General Directorate stated that the information and documents consisted of confidential data within the scope of trade secrets. Foreign persons with whom Emel Öztürk was in contact, asked Öztürk by e-mail to provide confidential information such as daily natural gas consumption data and natural gas import prices of the Turkish Republic. Öztürk also instructed Serkan Özbilgin and Mustafa F., who work in the energy sector, to provide the confidential information requested. Özbilgin, Gürcan Ö. agreed to pay a monthly bribe of 1,500 TL. Mustafa F. also made a bribe agreement with the suspect Murat K., on the orders of Emel Öztürk. And he got the information about the capacity of Turkey’s natural gas pipelines from Murat K. before it was published in the electronic bulletin. Emel Öztürk sent the information that should remain confidential to the managers of the foreign company on a monthly basis in the form of tables and graphs. In the indictment, it was requested that the suspects, who were accused of ‘Procuring the State’s Information Required to Be Confidential for Political or Military Espionage’, be prosecuted in accordance with the relevant articles of the TCK. Different sentences were demanded for the suspects, ranging from life imprisonment to 21 years in prison.
HIS FATHER MARTYR HIS SPY
class=”medianet-inline-adv”>
The very important detail about Serkan Özbilgin, the number two name in the spy cell, is this: Serkan Özbilgin is the son of the assassinated martyr, Mustafa Yücel Özbilgin, the 2nd Department Head of the Council of State. Mustafa Yücel Özbilgin was killed on 17 May 2006 in the 2nd Chamber of the Council of State by the gunman lawyer Alparslan Arslan. Mert Göksu, who was the general manager of Emel Öztürk, the head of the espionage cell, escaped abroad. Göksu’s house was searched and digital materials were confiscated. According to the indictment dated 7 October 2020 prepared by Istanbul Public Prosecutor Gökalp Kökçü, Gürcan Ö. confessed to his crimes because he wanted to take advantage of effective remorse.
