The issue of MİT activity in Germany that has been causing tensions and crises between Berlin and Ankara for a while now has recently stepped up to a different level. According to prominent daily newspaper Die Welt, MİT has attempted to infiltrate German intelligence.

According to the statement Germany’s domestic intelligence institution Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution gave to the newspaper, MİT did have such an attempt, but they were not successful. The Cologne-based intelligence agency did not provide details.

JOB APPLICANTS TURNED OUT TO BE MİT AGENTS

MİT attempted to infiltrate German intelligence through job applicants at the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The office had opened up some positions, and in the interviews many Turkish-speaking candidates “stood out”.

The German intelligence official who spoke to the newspaper said they considered the possibility of the applicants having relations to the MİT and rejected their applications.

Spokesperson for the coalition party CSU Stephan Mayer demanded a stern condemnation of a NATO member country’s intelligence agency engaging in such an attempt. Intelligence expert Erich Schmidt-Eenboom called the MİT’s attempt to infiltrate German intelligence as “a new quality attempt”. 

The MİT had attempted to infiltrate German police and intelligence through Turkish interpreters before, and many interpreters were exposed and laid off.