Berlin Police Officer Under Investigation Over ‘Spying For Turkey’

An officer working at Germany’s Berlin Police Department is under investigation for allegedly spying on behalf of the Turkish government, the DW Turkish reported, attributing to the daiy newspaper Der Tagesspiegel.

The investigation launched into the police officer is focusing on the allegations that the suspect has been relaying location information of dissident Turkish citizens based in the German capital Berlin to the Turkish intelligence agency M.I.T.

Germany believes that M.I.T. has been trying to find sources of information among German public servants.

While the Berlin Police Department and the prosecutor overseeing the probe denied responding to questions from reporters, Andreas Geisel, Berlin’s interior minister and member of Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), said that he is aware of the allegations in question, however he cannot give any details as the investigation is still ongoing.

It was reported that the accused police officer is high-ranking and that he was giving information to an official, who works at the Turkish embassy. The German government considers the embassy employee a possible Turkish intelligence officer.

The German Ministry of Justice revealed last week that the Turkish government has made 848 requests of search or arrest through Interpol from the country, since 2016’s failed coup attempt aiming to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Following the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, Turkey threw tens of thousands of people in jail, including soldiers, journalists, academics, teachers, police officers, judges and prosecutors. The government also requested extradition of hundreds from other countries.