The Turkish intelligence agency has developed a specialized program to scrutinize visiting US and British nationals amid suspicions that some may be operating as spies or contractors with intentions to destabilize President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
The deep-seated paranoia within Erdogan’s Islamist government stems from a pervasive belief among Turkish leadership that the US and its close ally, the UK, aim to oust Erdogan, who has governed the country with an iron fist for the past two decades.
As a result Turkish institutions, particularly the two main intelligence agencies—the National Intelligence Organization (Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MIT) and the Security Directorate General’s Intelligence Unit (Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü İstihbarat Başkanlığı) —which have been instrumental in sustaining Erdogan’s rule, were directed to focus on US and British nationals visiting or residing in the country.
As part of this directive, MIT developed an algorithm that integrates multiple data sets into a specialized program designed to flag American and British nationals suspected of being spies or assets with hidden agendas. The algorithm analyzes various indicators, including certain professions, frequented locations, associates, keywords used in messages, internet traffic, behavior patterns and more, to create profiles warranting closer scrutiny.