The claims Erdoğan’s agents are spying on supporters of exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen open new front in the diplomatic row between the two countries

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

German prosecutors have announced an investigation into claims that Turkish agents are spying on alleged followers of exiled preacher Fethullah Gülen in Germany.

News of the inquiry came as a German state minister accused Turkey of “intolerable and unacceptable” espionage against supporters of Gülen, blamed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for a failed coup attempt last year.

The claims open a new front in the diplomatic row between the two Nato allies, whose relationship has been strained by a series of disputes centred on human rights issues.

Fethullah Gülen: alleged coup mastermind – and friendly neighbor Read more

“It is clear that the Turkish secret intelligence service, MIT, is investigating people living in Germany,” said Boris Pistorius, the interior minister of the northern German state of Lower Saxony, deploring the “intensity and ruthlessness” of Turkey’s pursuit of Turks living abroad.

“It’s intolerable and unacceptable,” he said at a press conference.

Erdoğan’s government had asked Berlin to help spy on about 300 alleged Gülen supporters, Pistorius said, adding that the list was handed to Germany’s BND spy service, which turned it over to state governments.

But Pistorius’s state decided to inform the more than 10 targets in Lower Saxony, including a school and at least two companies, fearing people could suffer retaliation if they travelled to Turkey while unaware they were on a watch list.

Turkish authorities were acting with “something close to paranoia”, he said, adding that “all Gülen supporters are assumed to be terrorists and enemies of the state even though there is not the tiniest scrap of evidence”.

“As of today, we have no evidence whatsoever that Gülen supporters have violated any rules in any way.”

According to German media, Turkish officials handed the target list including names, addresses, telephone numbers and photographs to their German counterparts during the Munich security conference in February.

Federal prosecutors will examine how Turkey compiled such detailed information on their targets.

“The success of our investigation will depend largely on the information shared with us by German counter-espionage agencies,” spokeswoman Frauke Koehler said about the investigation into “persons unknown”.

Meanwhile, the German interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, warned Turkey against spying in Germany, saying “espionage activities on German soil is punishable by law and will not be tolerated by us”.

What are Turks voting on in the referendum? Turkey goes to the polls on 16 April to vote on constitutional amendments that would transform the country from a parliamentary democracy into a presidential system. The referendum could bring about arguably the most significant political development since the Turkish republic was declared in 1923: under the new system, President Erdoğan will be able to stand in two more election cycles, meaning he could govern as a powerful head of state until 2029. The president's supporters say the new system will make Turkey safer and stronger. Opponents fear it will usher in an era of authoritarian one-man rule.

Although Gülen, a 75-year-old cleric living in the US, has denied charges that he was involved in the failed coup last July to overthrow Erdoğan, Ankara has cracked down on the preacher’s followers.

More than 41,000 people in Turkey have been arrested over suspected links to Gülen’s movement, and 100,000 fired or suspended from their jobs. Many of them are teachers, police, magistrates and journalists.

In February, German police raided the homes of four Turkish Muslim preachers suspected of spying on alleged Gülen supporters for Erdoğan’s government.

Erdoğan has in turn accused Germany of harbouring Kurdish and other “terrorists”, claiming that Berlin is refusing to hand over alleged suspects.

Separately, the foreign ministries in Sweden and Denmark have called in Turkey’s envoys over claims of Turkish spying on opposition figures living in the Scandinavian countries.

Germany’s foreign intelligence chief, Bruno Kahl, drew Ankara’s ire last week when he said he did not believe that Gülen was behind the failed coup.

Berlin has emerged as a strident critic of Ankara’s post-coup crackdown, and is also urging Turkey to release a correspondent for the German daily Die Welt, who is jailed on terror charges.

Ankara has been riled by German authorities’ refusal to allow some Turkish ministers to campaign in the country for a yes vote before the 16 April referendum on giving Erdoğan the powers of an executive presidency.