German intelligence 'spied on whole of Turkey'

Celal ÖZCAN BERLIN

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Turkey was the only NATO member that the German foreign intelligence agency (BND) spied on and the scope of the program covers the whole country, sources in the German intelligence community have told daily Hürriyet.

Citing the updated version of the German government’s intelligence profiling document, a source said Turkey was listed as one of the main targets under a category called “the updated profile.”

“The document also lists why Turkey is the only NATO country on the list. It states the whole of Turkey, not just the region, should be monitored, because of its ‘great importance,’ particularly in areas of foreign policy, economics, oil pipelines and anti-terrorism operations,” the source said.

A German federal prosecutor had arrested a 31-year-old BND employee in July, on suspicion of spying for American intelligence.

The German media reported last week that documents had been discovered showing how the German government had ordered the BND to spy on a NATO partner state, without naming the country. Der Spiegel then reported Aug. 16 that Turkey was and still is the target.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu called his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, late Aug. 18 to personally express his government’s anger. The two ministers agreed that the chiefs of the two countries’ intelligence services, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and BND, should come together and that the German side should provide an explanation for their actions.