AKP members concerned that Minister Soylu may have tapped their phones

Duvar English

Members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) are concerned that Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu may have tapped their phones, sources told Duvar. 

The worries of AKP members came after mafia leader Sedat Peker accused Soylu of tracking Presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın in a video he released on YouTube. 

Reports of illegal wiretapping have surfaced after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan slammed a group of retired admirals for releasing a declaration, saying that the former soldiers' relatives have links to the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

"You'll see them in the media soon," Erdoğan said in early April, which was followed by the daily Hürriyet publishing information on the admirals' relatives. 

While the report was blasted for violating people's private lives, Soylu said that the government revealed their families' connections with the main opposition.

Although high-level officials have been openly saying these acts in a bid to intimidate the opposition, AKP members are becoming increasingly worried about the issue. 

Sources told Duvar that the silence from the AKP ranks in the face of serious allegations against Soylu may be stemming from these concerns. 

Peker's accusations against Soylu and other AKP politicians have shaken Turkey, but the government has fallen short of giving plausible explanations and taking judicial action against those involved.