This is the news coverage of the draft State Secrecy Law.
Top board for state secrets to be established
Published in Zaman, 26.04.2008 (Article by Ercan Yavuz)
Former Democrat Party leader Mehmet Ağar refused to testify to any court or commission about the Susurluk case, citing the principle of “state secrets.”
Public officials will no longer be able to use the “state secret” defense to justify their actions when the state secrets bill is passed and establishes the Higher State Secret Board (DSK) — an ultimate authority for deciding what constitutes classified information and documents.
The state secrets bill, drafted by the Justice Ministry in 2005 but never enacted due to opposition, has finally been submitted to Parliament. It introduces new regulations concerning the concept of state secrets, in the past one of the greatest obstacles in the prosecution of high-ranking public servants.
Aiming to ensure easy access to information, transparency and an end to an unnecessary culture of secrecy in government operations, the bill envisions regulation of the identification, preservation and disclosure of classified information and documents, as well as related duties and liabilities. In addition to redefining the Turkish concept of a state secret, the bill would institute a time limit on the confidentiality of such secrets — a maximum of 75 years. If the bill passes, light may be shed upon a number of scandals that have fallen into obscurity, experts say.
Bekir Bozdağ, deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) parliamentary group, told Today’s Zaman the bill would be passed soon. “Our party is eager to enact it. Recent developments show that such a law is particularly necessary. Due to Parliament’s busy agenda, we were unable to enact it in the previous parliamentary term — but we’re determined to do so this term. I think this will … [happen] soon,” he said.
The DSK will be chaired by the prime minister and charged with determining which documents and pieces of information are state secrets.
The confidentiality provisions of the bilateral and multilateral treaties to which the Turkish Republic is party will be preserved under the new legislation. Information and documents designated as confidential under such treaties will be considered, depending on their nature, to be state secrets or fall under another confidentiality classification.
In the past, debates over agreements between Turkey and other nations have also been affected by state secrets provisions. For example, debate over the price of natural gas sold by Russia to Turkey was stalemated when former Energy Minister Cumhur Ersümer, on trial by the Supreme State Council on corruption charges, said the agreement concluded with the Russians contained a special provision prohibiting disclosure of the pricing. Similarly, defense agreements concluded between Turkey and Israel in the past have been criticized for confidentiality provisions contained therein.
Easier prosecution of bureaucrats
The bill will make the trying of high-ranking bureaucrats easier. In connection with the Susurluk case, which uncovered dark secret relations among public officials, the police and the mafia, former Democrat Party (DP) leader Mehmet Ağar had refused to testify to any court or commission, citing the state secrets concept. Now, the DSK will evaluate Ağar’s definition of state secrets.
Those who violate provisions concerning the preservation of state secrets will be sentenced to from one to four years in prison under Article 258 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). Committing the crime through the press, media organizations or the Internet will be considered an aggravated circumstance.
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