Turkey spying in Germany angers Berlin

German Interior Minister, Thomas De Maizière denounced Turkey for its spying activities on German soil.

Turkey’s secret service was spying on German supporters of Fethullah Gülen, an exiled Turkish cleric currently residing in the United States.

De Mazière minced no words in his denunciation: “Spying activities on German soil are criminal and will not be accepted by us. This goes for every foreign country and for every intelligence service.”

“We have repeatedly told Turkey that something like this is unacceptable,” he continued. “No matter what position someone may have on the Gülen movement, here German law is applied and citizens will not be spied on by foreign countries.”

The interior minister said anyone caught spying would lose his or her German residency permit—would in effect be deported.

He concluded, “It is unacceptable that those people who Turkey views as unpopular have to worry about travelling to Turkey. This cannot be the future of the German-Turkish relationship.”