German Lawmakers Call for Probe on Imams Suspected of Spying for Turkey


Date posted: December 10, 2016

John Hayward

German lawmakers have called for an investigation of Turkish intelligence operations in their country, specifically charging that Turkey is spying on suspected followers of exiled cleric and accused coup mastermind Fethullah Gulen.

The Financial Times sees this new controversy stacking with a recent German government report about Islamist radicalism in Ankara to create big problems for Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is fighting to defend the EU-Turkey refugee pact. Merkel’s critics in Germany have said the pact makes too many concessions to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in essence, going easy on his increasingly authoritarian government because Germany needs his help to keep the refugee situation in Europe from growing even worse.

“I want to get answers from the German government. If MIT really is active in Germany with its own agenda and with 6,000 informants, and is putting pressure on Turkish people, then this is against the law,” said Green MP Hans-Christian Strobele. (MIT is the Turkish intelligence service.)

The Financial Times reports that Berlin Mayor Michael Muller said he was recently asked by a representative of the Turkish government to take action against Gulen followers living in his city.

German officials have also complained about the undue influence Erdogan exerts on Turks living in Germany through a political lobbying group called UETD, and through Ditib, a network of “900 Turkish mosques, which has organized the posting of 970 Turkish-trained imams to Germany.” These mosques are also alleged to have a disturbing level of control over Islamic education in German schools.

The UK Express goes even further under the headline, “ERDOGAN’S MUSLIM SPIES: Turkish Imams Snooping on Merkel’s Germany for President.”

The Express quotes German media reports that “spies write reports on the alleged Gulen supporters and the secretive information is collected from imams of the Turkish-Islamic Union of the Institute for Religion,” which is the formal name of the Ditib network.

“For example, an imam in Westerwald, Germany reported when suspects changed positions after the coup and their family links. According to the well-respected Die Weltnewspaper, a lot of people who are being spied on are German citizens,” the Express adds, citing similar complaints about Turkish imams spying on Turkish populations in Bulgaria, Norway, and Switzerland.

Concerns have been voiced about Erdogan using mosques and community organizations to exert his influence in Germany for quite some time.

“The Erdogan government’s control of mosque unions in Germany leads to him increasingly misusing these unions as a mouthpiece for his despotic policies. These unions are instrumentalized by Erdogan to establish a very dangerous kind of Islamism that is contrary to basic rights,” Left Party MP Sevim Dagdelen told Deutsche Welle in June.

“If mosque unions controlled by Erdogan try to exercise political influence, the critical media will have a tough time being heard. This means that millions of people here in Germany are being showered with Erdogan’s inhuman propaganda – and the German government is not paying attention,” Dagdelen added.

Deutsche Welle also cited concerns that Turkish Germans don’t identify with German politics and have very low rates of electoral turnout — an assimilation problem that will only be exacerbated if Erdogan (and Gulen) continue using community organizations in Germany to manipulate and intimidate Turkish emigres.

Source: Breitbart , December 10, 2016


Related News

Turkey: Detained higher education professionals at risk of torture

Scholars at Risk (SAR) is gravely concerned about sweeping actions against Turkey’s higher education sector, including most recently prolonged incommunicado detention and related risks of torture and ill-treatment of hundreds of higher education professionals, in violation of Turkey’s obligations under domestic and international law.

Mother with disabled son and daughter detained over alleged coup involvement

Hatice Kökoğlu, the mother of a disabled son and a daughter, has reportedly been detained in Kütahya province over alleged links to the Gülen movement. However, the two disabled children were left alone after their mother was recently taken into custody as part of an investigation launched by the Kütahya Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Diplomatic Row over Gulen Influence in Africa

Turkey’s relations with African countries have been strained following demands by the Turkish government to close Gulenist schools in Sudan, Nigeria, and Somalia. After the attempted coup in Turkey on July 15, which the Turkish government has accused Gulen of masterminding, Turkey’s ambassador to Nigeria called for 17 Gulenist schools in the country to be closed.

Abduction and torture part of war on Gulenists: Report

An Ankara-based rights organization on Thursday released a report delving into the allegations of enforced disappearances and torture that took place in Turkey since the 2016 coup bid. The report reads in its conclusion that out of 28 cases of disappearance, 26 were connected to the persecution of alleged Gulenists, while suggesting at least 16 of them were detained in the capital city of Ankara.

German gov’t dismisses parliamentary question on Hizmet

Responding to the parliamentary question, the German government, which is led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, said that an extensive assessment of the faith-based movement’s organizations and foundations in Germany had failed to find any evidence of involvement in any wrongdoing or illegal activity.

Gulen sympathizer stabbed by pro-Erdogan relative in Belgium

Ibrahim Anaz, one of the executives at a Brussels-based association sympathetic to the Gulen movement, was stabbed by a family member who is a supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to local media.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Enes Kanter calls Turkey’s Erdoğan ‘Hitler of our century’ after airport detainment

Boston Globe: Fethullah Gulen, a US resident wanted by Turkey, must be protected

Turkish nationals in Bangladesh living in fear

Erdoğan, Hizmet, assassins

The next phase in Turkey’s political violence – third and coming coup could be the most violent

Global Muslim networks: How far they have travelled

Bryan couple joins interfaith tour of Turkey

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News