Milli Emniyet Hizmeti

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Milli Emniyet Hizmeti (MAH) (National Security Service) was the governmental intelligence organization of Turkey between 1927 and 1965. It is abbreviated as MAH instead of MEH because at the time of its establishment, the official alphabet of Turkey was based on Arabic alphabet.

It was established in 1927, at a time when Union and Progress elements, including most of the intelligence personnel, in Turkey were being purged by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The first director of MAH was Şükrü Âli Ögel.

During World War II, Turkey saw increased espionage activity by British, Soviet and German operatives and sympathizers. At that time, MAH made its most notable discovery, learning that Germany would not indeed invade Turkey, allowing the İnönü administration to resist mounting Allied pressure to declare war on Germany.

The organization was replaced by Milli Istihbarat Teskilati (MİT) (National Intelligence Organization) in 1965.

[edit] Trivia

British efforts to get Turkey as an ally against Germany are a central element of Eric Ambler's classic spy thriller Journey Into Fear, published in 1940, in which a fictional head of MAH, Colonel Haki, plays an important role.