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Türkiye's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has published an intelligence document dated Aug. 16, 1940, concerning efforts to clarify the activities of a suspected foreign intelligence operative in Ankara's Ulus district, according to a report posted on the agency's official website.
The document was added to the "Documents" section under the "Special Collection" tab on MIT's official website. It is described as an intelligence report sent with the marking "urgent" in order to clarify the activities of a foreign intelligence suspect in central Ankara.
According to the agency, the document concerns a foreign intelligence suspect whose activities in Ankara's Ulus neighborhood were to be clarified.
The report was issued by the National Security Service Presidency, known as MAH, as an instruction to Ankara B Directorate, the unit authorized to carry out counterintelligence activities.
According to the text of the report, an unidentified man had earlier purchased a Leica camera and 35 rolls of film from Tan stationery store in Ulus Square.
The store owners said the man was Russian, while another person said he was possibly Bulgarian.
The report said the man, who was understood to be originally Russian or Bulgarian, had in recent days drawn attention by trying to obtain information on how written material could be copied and enlarged using the camera he had purchased.
It added that the man was now seeking to buy an enlarger device.
The suspect visited Tan Store searching for a photographic enlarger. While the store did not have a complete unit in stock, the owners promised to retrieve an enlarger condenser currently located at a Shell fuel depot and make it usable by adding a lens and stand.
The suspect was expected to return to Tan Store the following day, Aug. 17, 1940. He was scheduled to arrive either before noon or later in the afternoon to inspect the modified equipment.
The suspect was described as short and blondish; authorities noted the urgent need to establish his identity.
The document said it was of great importance to determine what the man intended to do, and what he had been doing, with both the Leica camera and the enlarger device he wanted to acquire.
It also warned that using the store owners to identify the man could lead him to realize he was under surveillance.
For that reason, the report called for the store to be kept under observation.
One store employee was instructed to leave the shop and tail Abdulbaki as he went to the Shell depot. The employee was to watch him retrieve the enlarger condenser and ensure he returned to the shop with the equipment. The report does not clarify who Abdulbaki is.
At the same time, the report said, the short, fair-haired man who would be in Tan store examining the device and receiving explanations from the shopkeepers should be followed without letting him out of sight in an effort to determine his identity and activities.
The document said that shedding light on the matter by obtaining a clue from such limited indications was characteristic work for a secret intelligence service and should be expected from the alert and diligent officers of the Ankara center.
The report noted that even a conclusion that the suspicions were unfounded would be considered a success. Proving that the equipment had not been sought for secret or harmful purposes would at least provide authorities with much-needed clarity.
The report concluded by requesting that action be taken immediately.
The published document also carries the signature of the deputy head of the National Security Service Presidency, according to the report on MIT's website.
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