Anonymous dumps huge data trove online after Turkish police get ‘hacked’

Hacktivist collective Anonymous claims to have dumped online a huge database belonging to Turkey’s General Directorate of Security (EGM) in response to “various abuses” by the Turkish government in recent months.

The person who uploaded the database Monday said he received it from a hacker who had “persistent access to various parts of the Turkish government infrastructure for the past two years.”

The compressed file is expected to weigh in at some 2.8GB, and the uncompressed version at around 17.8GB.

The files were released “in light of various government abuses in the past few months” in Turkey, as the activist “decided to take action against corruption,” the activists added.

EGM is the civilian police force in Turkey, tasked with preventing crime, keeping the peace and protecting citizens and their property.

Turkey has recently seen a clampdown on media freedom, with several journalists facing treason charges after unmasking dubious practices by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government.

The Turkish authorities are also carrying out a so-called anti-terrorist operation against Kurdish militias in the southeast of the country, killing at least 150 civilians and putting over 200,000 lives at risk due to a strict curfew, according to Amnesty International.

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Erdogan’s government has been shelling the Kurds fighting Islamic State (IS or Daesh, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Syria and earlier was slammed for sending troops into Iraqi territory.