Bugged recordings of prominent Turks are appearing almost every day
ft.com
ft.com
(I've done the same thing.)
> Bugged recordings of some of the most prominent people in national life are appearing almost every day, although coverage in the Turkish media rather depends on the political loyalties of the outlet in question.
> Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister for more than a decade, said this month that “everybody” in Turkey had been wiretapped – he himself, President Abdullah Gul, executives and journalists – for purposes of blackmail. Rather endearingly, Mr Erdogan uses 1980s terminology to refer to such recordings, calling them “cassettes”. But the recordings are available on the internet and are notified to the world via Twitter.
> They cast a striking picture of the prime minister and his business and political allies: in several recordings Mr Erdogan appears to instruct a friendly media executive on how the news should be presented (less coverage of the opposition is the basic message). Others appear to be cuttings from an anti-corruption probe of government-connected figures that Mr Erdogan’s administration has in effect halted. (All those concerned protest their innocence; while some say the tapes have been manipulated, the prime minister says the recordings have invaded his privacy.)
> Tapes have also surfaced of Mr Erdogan’s current arch-enemy, an Islamic preacher called Fethullah Gulen, talking to lieutenants in business and the media. The leaks are part of a war between Mr Erdogan and Mr Gulen’s movement, which has adherents across Turkish society and in key institutions.
> On Monday a government-affiliated newspaper published the names of about 7,000 people – including government officials and media figures – whose phones it says were tapped at the request of Gulenist prosecutors. Meanwhile, Gulenists say that new government proposals to boost the powers of Turkey’s intelligence agency – and facilitate wiretaps – will turn Turkey into a surveillance state.
[0] http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/70baf32a-9d43-11e3-83c5-00144...
So, instead of going through the exercise of trying to keep their own people in the panopticon while pulling some futile curtain around it all, they give their government, industry, and perhaps even the people tools to avoid snooping.
I'm sure the usual suspects will be here to say this is also futile, but at at the very least it's different from obvious futility.
looking at the fiasco in the ukraine, i can see how some powers are looking to engage the local mob to bring just another government to its knees. as big parts (portugal, spain, france, italy, ireland, greece) are effectively bankrupt, living on wellfare of the rest of the union, the eu is very, very eager to extend its reach into eastern territory -- by all means.
turks, ukrainian fellows and all other potential guinea pigs: don't get sucked into something you'll complain about as not having seen coming.
One problem is an increase in the ability to convincingly create faked photos and phone recordings?
Here, it is obviously parts of a state against other parts. Informative insight.
Is this the future of political "argumentation" in [half authoritarian/corrupt] regimes? And in how business deals will be done -- blackmail? Or, if fakes get impossible to detect, the end of trustworthy recorded history?
Yeah, down vote me, you're just jealous that you didn't post it first!