Turkey launches investigation over data leak reports

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Wednesday that an investigation has been started to unveil the cause of the data leak that contains personal information of nearly 50 million Turkish citizens.

Speaking to reporters at a news conference, Bozdag said "Authorities have started an inquiry into a reported data leak that purportedly compromised [the] identity data of some 50 million Turkish citizens."

"This number is close to the number of voters in Turkey. And as it is known, the YSK [Turkish Supreme Board of Election] shares personal information of voters with political parties," the minister said, implying that the data might have leaked from databases of the parties.

Reports of the data leak began circulating early on April 5, after a group of hackers posted a database online that included the personal information of 49,611,709 Turkish citizens.