Turkey's main opposition party on Friday called for a parliamentary inquiry into alleged CIA activities following media reports that a plane operated by the U.S. intelligence agency landed in the country recently. The government confirmed last week that a plane described in the reports landed in Turkey twice in the past two months, but could not say whether it was operated by the CIA.
The opposition Republican Peoples' Party submitted a petition requesting a parliamentary investigation, saying the allegations could harm the country's reputation. The inquiry should look into allegations that CIA officials were "involved in activities that go against international agreements under the guise of preventing terrorist activity," the Republican Peoples' Party said.
Parliament would need to hold a vote on whether to set up a committee to investigate the allegations. A motion to set up the committee would require the backing of members of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's governing party, though it was not expected to do so. Transport Minister Binali Yildirim has said the plane that landed in Turkey was registered in the United States to Pegasus Technologies Inc. and took off from Azerbaijan in both cases.
Last week, an Austrian opposition lawmaker listed Pegasus Technologies as being among several bogus airlines that he claimed the CIA was using to transport terror suspects. His allegations could not be independently confirmed. The Council of Europe has asked Swiss lawmaker Dick Marty to investigate the CIA's reported prisoner transfers through European airports to secret detention centers. Poland and Romania have been identified by the New York-based Human Rights Watch as sites of possible CIA secret prisons, but both countries have repeatedly denied any involvement, reports the AP. N.U.
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