Alleged spy could face 20 years

ISTANBUL: A Turkish prosecutor is seeking a jail term of up to 20 years for Metin Gurcan, a founder of the Turkish opposition Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), over military and political espionage, state media said on Thursday.

In late November, Mr Gurcan was jailed pending trial over his contacts with foreign diplomats based in the Turkish capital Ankara.

Mr Gurcan, a retired member of the Turkish Armed Forces, helped establish DEVA with Ali Babacan, a former deputy prime minister and minister under President Tayyip Erdogan. Mr Gurcan is also a defence analyst.

In an indictment, the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office accused Mr Gurcan of obtaining confidential documents with the aim of political or military espionage, state-owned Anadolu Agency said on Wednesday.

The indictment, which needs to be approved by a court, says it was determined that Mr Gurcan held meetings with foreign state officials and includes photos of the meetings, Anadolu added.

Mr Babacan has said Mr Gurcan’s work is based on open sources and he does not have access to state secrets.

He has also said Mr Gurcan’s detention was an attempt at diverting attention from the country’s economic crisis, marked by the currency plunging to alltime lows.

The lira lost 44% of its value last year, which sent inflation soaring last month to 36%, the highest under Mr Erdogan’s 19-year-old rule.

Polls show support for DEVA, founded in 2020, at about 2%, while support for Mr Erdogan and his AK Party are at multi-year lows. Turks have cited economic mismanagement among their main concerns.

DEVA has called for urgent elections due to “poor management of the economy”, but the government has said elections would be held as scheduled in June 2023.