The German Interior Minister Thomas De Maiziere has stated that Turkey will no longer be able to spy on their people living in Germany. It turns out that the head of Turkey's intelligence service, handed a list of people who were suspected of opposition sympathies to German counterparts. The list is also said to include personal data and surveillance photos.
The Turkish ministers have been in quest of a campaign among ethnic Turks in a referendum on 16 April. However, German and other EU states had banned the local rallies in support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The output was huge as 41,000 people were arrested in Turkey since the coup was defeated last year in July.
According to BBC, many are suspected of following a movement loyal US based cleric Fethullah Gulen. A list of 200 organizations and 300 individuals were thought to be linked to the Gulen movement at a conference in Munich. The security conference was believed to be held in February.
The Interior Minister Thomas De Maiziere said that the reports were unsurprising, and he further stated that they have repeatedly told Turkey that this was certainly unacceptable. It does not matter about the position on the Gulen movement, but the German jurisdiction applies and citizens will not be spied on by foreign ministers.
The Police have also said that the list must be taken seriously, and there was an angry response from some of the senior German figures. The Foreign Secret Service of Germany will not be commenting, but the county's internal security agency is surely looking into the allegations. Some of the Swiss prosecutors stated that they were investigating about the Turks critical of the Erdogan government were spied on at a lecture in Zurich. At this moment on Turkey will not be able to spy on any Turks living in Germany.
