The German government has said Turkey has failed to present documents and evidence to German judicial authorities to prove the Gülen movement’s involvement in a failed coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016, according to a story in the Turkish version of Deutsche Welle on Monday.
The Turkish government blames the Gülen movement for the failed coup, although the movement strongly denies any involvement.
The German statement came in response to a parliamentary question submitted by the opposition Left Party on June 7.
The German Foreign Ministry refused to answer some specific questions from the Left Party on the grounds that revealing that information could undermine the work of the German intelligence services.
For instance, the Left Party asked what kind of information the German federal government has regarding the situation of members of the Gülen movement in Turkey. The government said this information along with the answers to other questions on the Gülen movement cannot be shared with the public.
The German government said the decision was made following a thorough assessment and was in line with the interests of the German state.
According to the German government, sharing such information with the public could expose how German intelligence units work and reveal their cooperation with other parties.
The German government also said Turkish government authorities continue to repeat its narrative about the alleged involvement of the Gülen movement in the failed putsch and ask German security authorities to take action against Gülen followers in the country but added: “Turkish authorities have not relayed documents or evidence to the German Federal Criminal Office that show the role or responsibility of the Gülen movement in the coup attempt in concrete terms or prove this in the framework of German judicial criteria.”
Thousands of Gülen movement followers who fled an ongoing government witch-hunt in Turkey against Gülen followers, have applied for asylum in Germany.
The coup attempt on July 15 killed 249 people and wounded more than a thousand others.
Contrary to accusations made by Erdoğan and the Turkish government against the Gülen movement, the head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), Bruno Kahl, on March 18, 2017 said Turkey could not convince them that US-based Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, whose views inspired the movement, was behind the failed coup attempt.