Police in Germany on Wednesday raided the homes of four Muslim clerics suspected of spying for Turkey.

Heiko Maas, the German justice minister, accused Turkey of using religion as cover for intelligence operations.

Police suspect the four imams used their position to spy on supporters of Fethullah Gülen, the religious leader President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses of being behind last year’s failed coup.

All four men are employees of Ditib, a Turkish government agency that funds mosques and provides imams for the Turkish community in Germany.

The raids come amid claims that Turkey is using Muslim clerics in more than 30 countries around the world as a “global spying network”.