Turkey’s government has reportedly called on teachers and parents in western Germany to spy on classes at German schools and report any criticism of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Turkish consulate in North Rhine-Westphalia even told attendees with Turkish roots at the “information events” that their children should film their teachers and pass on any proof to them, reported newspaper the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) reported.

At the evenings, held in Düsseldorf, Essen, Cologne und Münster in January and also attended by imams, parents and teachers were told to report any critical comments about Turkey’s government they witnessed in schools, according to information from the Union for Education and Science (GEW).

“We have heard from various different sources that people were told to report every piece of criticism of Turkey, which had been heard at schools in North Rhine-Westphalia, to the consulate,” said GEW spokesman Sebastian Krebs.

“The consulate also encouraged parents to tell their children to film teachers and pass on the evidence to Turkish authorities.”