{"id":39170,"date":"2026-06-18T15:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/39170\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T15:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:55:09","slug":"berlin-intelligence-agency-says-turkish-spy-service-targets-gulen-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/39170\/","title":{"rendered":"Berlin intelligence agency says Turkish spy service targets G\u00fclen movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo: Florian Wehde on Unsplash<\/p>\n

Berlin\u2019s domestic intelligence agency says Turkey\u2019s spy service is active in the German capital and seeks tips from pro-government members of the Turkish diaspora on supporters of the G\u00fclen movement.<\/p>\n

The finding, published in the agency\u2019s 2025 annual report<\/a>, gives official weight to longstanding fears among Turkish dissidents in Germany that Ankara\u2019s surveillance of its critics extends beyond Turkey\u2019s borders and into one of Europe\u2019s largest Turkish diaspora communities.<\/p>\n

The report by Berlin\u2019s Office for the Protection of the Constitution says Turkey\u2019s National Intelligence Organization (M\u0130T), operates in Berlin in part through official Turkish representations, including embassies and consulates.<\/p>\n

M\u0130T is a central part of Turkey\u2019s security structure, has broad executive and enforcement powers and is subordinate to the Turkish president, the report says.<\/p>\n

M\u0130T\u2019s targets include \u201csystem opponents\u201d such as supporters of the faith-based G\u00fclen movement, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan has targeted followers of the G\u00fclen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah G\u00fclen, since corruption investigations in December 2013 implicated him as well as some members of his family and inner circle. He dismissed the probes as a G\u00fclenist conspiracy and later designated the movement a terrorist organization in May 2016, intensifying a sweeping crackdown after a coup attempt in July of the same year that he accused G\u00fclen of orchestrating. The movement denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.<\/p>\n

Berlin\u2019s intelligence agency said M\u0130T actively seeks help from Turkish citizens and people of Turkish origin who support the Turkish state and government. It said M\u0130T\u2019s website includes a contact form allowing people to submit information under a promise of confidentiality.<\/p>\n

The agency said that channel can be used to report people and organizations viewed by Turkey\u2019s leadership as enemies. Such reports can later lead to action against people during passport checks when they enter or leave Turkey, including possible accusations of spreading terrorist propaganda, the report says.<\/p>\n

The Berlin report did not name specific people allegedly targeted by M\u0130T in the city.<\/p>\n

Berlin intelligence chief Michael Fischer said in the report that the main foreign intelligence actors in the city are Russia, China, Iran and Turkey. Their methods include classic espionage, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns and sabotage, he said.<\/p>\n

Berlin, as Germany\u2019s capital and a major political, economic and scientific center, remains a target for foreign intelligence services, the report says.<\/p>\n

The report comes against a broader European backdrop of allegations that Turkey has monitored, pressured or sought the return of people linked to the G\u00fclen movement abroad since the failed coup.<\/p>\n

In 2017 German prosecutors\u00a0opened<\/a>\u00a0investigations into suspected Turkish intelligence activity targeting alleged G\u00fclen supporters in Germany. German media and international outlets reported that police searched the homes of Turkish Muslim preachers suspected of spying on people linked to the movement, while Germany also rejected a Turkish request to collect intelligence on G\u00fclen supporters.<\/p>\n

The same year Swiss federal prosecutors\u00a0opened<\/a>\u00a0a criminal investigation into suspected foreign espionage within the Turkish community in Switzerland following allegations that Turkish-linked actors had monitored government critics, including people associated with the G\u00fclen movement.<\/p>\n

In March 2018 six Turkish nationals linked to G\u00fclen-affiliated schools\u00a0were arrested<\/a>\u00a0in Kosovo and sent to Turkey. Kosovo\u2019s then-prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, said he had not been informed of the operation and later dismissed his interior minister and intelligence chief over the deportations.<\/p>\n

In September 2018 several Turkish teachers\u00a0working<\/a>\u00a0at G\u00fclen-linked schools in Moldova were taken by Moldovan authorities and transferred to Turkey. The European Court of Human Rights later\u00a0found<\/a>\u00a0that Moldova had violated their rights, saying the transfer had bypassed legal safeguards.<\/p>\n

Freedom House, in a report on transnational repression,\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Turkey\u2019s post-2016 campaign against perceived opponents abroad has included renditions, illegal deportations, passport cancellations, surveillance, harassment and pressure on relatives. The organization said the campaign has particularly targeted people accused by Ankara of links to the G\u00fclen movement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Florian Wehde on Unsplash Berlin\u2019s domestic intelligence agency says Turkey\u2019s spy service is active in the German…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[34498,34499,18,6759,31130,34500,378,1232,1978,34501,26274,788,34502],"class_list":["post-39170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-berlin","tag-ak-party","tag-akp","tag-berlin","tag-democracy","tag-erdogan","tag-gulen-movement","tag-human-rights","tag-justice","tag-law","tag-oppression","tag-rule-of-law","tag-turkey","tag-verfassungsschutz-verfassungsschutz-berlin-bericht-2025"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}