Turkey confirmed on Wednesday, through its ambassador to France, the existence of a “caseSpying between the two countries, a few days after information published by a Turkish pro-government newspaper, in the midst of a bilateral diplomatic crisis.
According to an article published on June 22 by the daily Sabah, an ex-employee of the security service of the French consulate general in Istanbul, Metin Ozdemir, went to the police and claimed that he had collected information for the French external intelligence services (DGSE). Four nationals suspected of having spied on associative and religious circles on behalf of France were arrested, the newspaper continued.
On Wednesday, the Turkish ambassador to France, Ismail Hakki Musa, answered a question on the subject before the French Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense, becoming the first Turkish official to mention it officially. “This case is being dealt with closely by the DGSE and the Turkish MIT. (It’s been) two years that this case is the subject of exchanges between the two services“, He said. “The fact that this was echoed in the press a few days ago (…) has nothing to do with the news“, He maintained, while the diplomatic tensions between Paris and Ankara are gaining momentum.
No French reaction
Paris has never reacted publicly on this issue. The Foreign Ministry simply refused to “comment on press rumors” According to Sabah, Metin Ozdemir said he had transmitted information to the French on 120 people, including imams, for a monthly salary and the promise to join the Foreign Legion, a body of the French army made up of foreign soldiers.
Also according to the newspaper, Metin Ozdemir, posing as a member of the Turkish services investigating the jihadist Islamic State (IS) group, recruited three men: an employee of the municipal water management company in Istanbul, a person working in telecoms and the owner of a Istanbul hotel.
The “spy cell“, As Sabah describes it, was responsible for gathering information on”conservative associations», Religious brotherhoods and the authority of religious affairs (Diyanet), public body responsible for supervising worship.
According to the newspaper, the four men notably gathered information on the association of women and democracy (KADEM), co-chaired by the youngest daughter of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to Sabah, Metin Ozdemir surrendered to the Turkish authorities after having had a disagreement with the French agents. The four men will be tried for spying, the press agency said.
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