Turkey: Leaked personal data not from election board

ANKARA

The head of Turkey’s election authority on Friday said a recent massive online leak of personal data did not come from its system.

"The information we obtained at the end of research we did at websites [with the leaked data] is compatible with databases we have given to political parties," Supreme Board of Elections (YSK) Chairman Sadi Guven Guven told Anadolu Agency in Ankara, as data on voters are shared with political parties before elections.

"Engineers did investigations; although it is compatible with the records we have, there was not any leak from our system. A leak would be almost impossibly difficult. We are protecting our system very strongly," he added.

Guven said the Ankara Prosecutor's Office had requested information about the issue and the board was already looking into whether the leaked documents are accurate.

"Our efforts are underway. We will send that information to the prosecutor’s office," he said.

On Wednesday, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into reports which suggest that the personal information of nearly 50 million Turkish citizens had been leaked online.

According to the office, public prosecutors will contact a range of Turkish institutions such as the Supreme Board of Elections as well as the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs.

"We saw that the data in the file circulating on the Internet was compatible with the files shared in 2008. We have information as to who got the lists from us [through sharing], but who leaked it is something the judiciary could know," Guven added.