It is reported that Germany has launched an investigation against 8 people who have been spying for the Turkish state in Germany for the last two years. On the other hand, Turkey asked Germany to extradite 48 people in 2022.
The Left Party, one of the opposition parties in Germany, has recently submitted a parliamentary question concerning the Berlin government's cooperation with Ankara on security/legal issues, the intelligence activities of the Turkish state, and its Interpol applications.
The federal government of Olaf Scholz responded to the parliamentary question submitted by Left Party Deputy Sevim Dağdelen on July 29, 2022. The government response obtained by ANF shows that according to the German Federal Police Department records, the Turkish state applied to Interpol 291 times in 2021 and 203 times until July 15 in 2022.
TURKEY ASKED FOR THE EXTRADITION OF 79 PEOPLE IN 2021
According to the same response, the Turkish state demanded the extradition of 79 people living in Germany in 2021. The federal government revealed that applications were made for the extradition of 48 people until July 19, 2022. However, no information was provided about who these people were and the content of the investigations.
The German government also gave information on the cooperation in legal matters between Ankara and Berlin. Turkey asked for legal support from Germany 463 times in 2021 and 300 times in 2022. Likewise, the Scholz government refrained from giving details about the legal support in question.
7 INVESTIGATIONS IN 2021, 1 INVESTIGATION IN 2022
The federal government also provided figures concerning Turkish intelligence activities in Germany. Citing information gathered by the Federal Prosecutor's Office, the government said that investigations were launched against 7 people on suspicion of spying for the Turkish state in 2021. In addition, an investigation has been launched this year (until 19 July) against a spy working on behalf of the Turkish state.
Germany had previously revealed that investigations were underway against 4 people involved in spying activities for the Turkish intelligence service (MIT) in 2020. The federal government refrains from giving details on the content of the investigations launched into Turkey-linked espionage activities, despite a growing number of parliamentary questions by the opposition parties in recent years.
PREVIOUS MIT INVESTIGATIONS CLOSED
Taking advantage of Germany's silence, MIT has significantly increased its espionage activities in the country, especially since 2016. In October 2021, Germany detained a Turkish citizen in a hotel in Dusseldorf. According to the authorities, the man worked for MIT and had a gun and a list of names.
It is estimated that 8 thousand people work for MIT in Germany. DITIB, which is affiliated to the Turkish directorate of religious affairs (Diyanet), plays an important role in the activities of the Turkish intelligence. Turkish imams working in mosques affiliated to DITIB, which has 900 mosques in Germany, convey information about dissidents who criticize Erdogan’s regime directly to the Turkish consulates and embassies. In 2017, the federal prosecutor's office launched investigations against some DITIB member imams. However, it later closed those files.
