Turkey has arrested four of its nationals suspected of having spied on associations and religious circles on behalf of France, a Turkish pro-government newspaper reported Monday, in the midst of tensions between Ankara and Paris.
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No confirmation of this case from an independent source could be obtained. According to the daily Sabah , an ex-employee of the security service of the French consulate general in Istanbul, Metin Ozdemir, surrendered to the police and claimed that he had collected information on behalf of the French external intelligence services (DGSE).
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 of being able 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 intelligence services investigating the Islamic State (IS) group, recruited three men: an employee of the Istanbul municipal company who manages the distribution of water, a person working in telecoms and the owner of a Istanbul hotel.
Information on " conservative associations "
The " spy cell ", as Sabah calls it, was responsible for gathering information on " conservative associations ", religious brotherhoods and the authority of religious affairs (Diyanet), the 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.
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According to Sabah , Metin Ozdemir surrendered to the Turkish authorities after having had a disagreement with the French agents. The four men arrested will be tried for spying on an unspecified date, the newspaper said. This case comes in the midst of tensions between Ankara and Paris over Libya.
Turkey supports the Government of national unity (GNA) recognized by the UN while France, although she denies it, is accused of supporting the rival forces of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, a strong man from eastern Libya . France and Turkey, allies within NATO, exchanged virulent accusations last week after a maritime incident in the Mediterranean. Paris accused Turkish frigates of having behaved " extremely aggressive " towards a French ship. Ankara rejected these claims and accused the French ship of a " dangerous maneuver ". NATO has opened an investigation into this incident.