Authorities in Turkey have charged the leader of a small Maoist party with stealing confidential e-mails from the European Commission's delegation in Ankara, the Anatolia news agency reported Monday.
The chairman of the Turkish Labor Party, Dogu Perincek, faces a maximum three year prison sentence for "using, forwarding and publishing" e-mail messages from Karen Fogg, the European Commission's ambassador in Turkey, the agency said.
The publisher and editor-in-chief of the party newspaper Aydinlik, Emcet Olcaytu, has also been charged.
The scandal broke out last month when Perincek, known for his anti-Western opinions, claimed to have obtained confidential electronic-mails sent to Brussels by Fogg, and alleged that she was a spy working against Turkish interests.
Perincek claimed he had forwarded the messages to the Turkish media, however did not explain how he had obtained them. Several newspapers have published the e-mails.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Romano Prodi called Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit to express his dismay over the leaks, while EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verhuegen demanded that EU member candidate Turkey improve security at the mission. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
