ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said evidence has surfaced his secure telephone line was tapped by elements within his own government.
Erdogan's encrypted phone line was installed with the intention of giving him privacy in communications but now members of the outfit that installed it are accused of leaving it open for rival members of a parallel group within the Turkish government to listen in, Anadolu News Agency reported Tuesday.
Officials said members of the Ankara-based Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey have been suspended pending investigation. The group, which is government-sponsored but run by a group of private business and academic leaders, is responsible for installing and maintaining the encrypted phone lines used by Erdogan and other government and military leaders.
Turkish media outlets this week published a list of about 3,000 journalists, business leaders and government officials who are suspected of being victims of government eavesdropping.
