Erdogan's diplomatic spies

Turkey has been accused of operating a massive spy ring on four continents, including Africa. Recently released documents claim Turkish embassies have been submitting reports on foreign-based supporters of President Erdogan’s arch-enemy Fethullah Gulen.

The Turkish Embassy in Luanda, the capital of Angola, which is situated on the west coast of southern Africa, has engaged in a large-scale spying campaign Turkish citizens who are critics of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Nordic Monitor has learned.

Judicial documents incorporated into a criminal case file indicate that the Turkish Embassy gathered information on persons believed to be affiliated with the Gülen/Hizmet movement, a group critical of President Erdoğan, and that Turkish teachers, representatives of local associations, businessmen and their family members living in the country had been profiled by Turkish diplomats.

The information reported to the foreign ministry in Ankara was later used in a criminal indictment for a charge of terrorism by notorious Turkish prosecutor Adem Akıncı.

According to a decision dated December 19, 2018, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched a separate investigation (file no. 2018/28175) into 61 innocent people who were listed in espionage files dispatched by Turkish diplomats in Angola without any concrete evidence of wrongdoing. They were charged with “membership in a terrorist group” by Akıncı.