Was your data in the AKP Emails breach?
Check whether your email address was in it
Check my exposureFree. No password — we email you a six-digit code. This breach and every other one your address appears in.
AKP Emails (akparti.org.tr) suffered a data breach in 2016 that exposed around 917,461 accounts. If you had an account, some of your personal data may be circulating in leaked databases. The fastest way to know is to check your own email — free, in about 30 seconds, no password required.
What happened
In July 2016, a hacker known as Phineas Fisher hacked Turkey's ruling party (Justice and Development Party or "AKP") and gained access to 300k emails. The full contents of the emails were subsequently published by WikiLeaks and made searchable. HIBP identified over 917k unique email address patterns in the data set, including message IDs and a number of other non-user addresses.
Breach record from Have I Been Pwned, CC BY 4.0. Risk analysis by Nullivo.
What was exposed, and why it matters
Not all breaches carry the same risk — what matters is which fields leaked. Here is what the AKP Emails breach exposed and what each item actually enables:
What to do if you were affected
These steps are ordered for this specific breach — the most urgent action given what leaked comes first.
- Private messages
Consider what was discussed on this service and whether anything needs changing (shared passwords, personal disclosures). - Email addresses
Treat any message referencing this service with suspicion, and never act on links in unexpected emails. - Confirm you were actually in it
Run a free scan before you spend time on the steps above.
How urgent is this now?
This breach is over 10 years old. Old credentials still cause harm — leaked passwords from a decade ago are still tried against new accounts every day.
Remember: a breach can’t be “un-leaked” — once a database is out, it exists in countless copies. The goal is to make the leaked data useless: change what can be changed, lock down what can’t, and remove what has been republished.
Frequently asked questions
What data was exposed in the AKP Emails breach?
The AKP Emails breach exposed private messages, email addresses. Personal correspondence can be used for blackmail or social engineering, and often contains other sensitive details you have forgotten sharing.
How many people were affected by the AKP Emails breach?
Around 917,461 accounts were exposed, making it a mid-sized breach.
What should I do if I had a AKP Emails account?
Consider what was discussed on this service and whether anything needs changing (shared passwords, personal disclosures). You can check whether your own email appears in this breach with a free Nullivo scan — no password required.
Breaches that exposed similar data
If the AKP Emails breach affected you, these breaches exposed comparable information — worth checking too, since leaked datasets are routinely combined.