Berlin’s domestic intelligence agency says Turkey’s spy service is active in the German capital and seeks tips from pro-government members of the Turkish diaspora on supporters of the faith-based Gülen movement.
The finding, published in the agency’s 2025 annual report, gives official weight to longstanding fears among Turkish dissidents in Germany that Ankara’s surveillance of its critics extends beyond Turkey’s borders and into one of Europe’s largest Turkish diaspora communities.
The report by Berlin’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution says Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT), operates in Berlin in part through official Turkish representations, including embassies and consulates.
MİT is a central part of Turkey’s security structure, has broad executive and enforcement powers and is subordinate to the Turkish president, the report says.
MİT’s targets include “system opponents” such as supporters of the faith-based Gülen movement, according to the report.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has targeted followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations in December 2013 implicated him as well as some members of his family and inner circle. He dismissed the probes as a Gülenist conspiracy and later designated the movement a terrorist organization in May 2016, intensifying a sweeping crackdown after a coup attempt in July of the same year that he accused Gülen of orchestrating. The movement denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Berlin’s intelligence agency said MİT actively seeks help from Turkish citizens and people of Turkish origin who support the Turkish state and government. It said MİT’s website includes a contact form allowing people to submit information under a promise of confidentiality.
The agency said that channel can be used to report people and organizations viewed by Turkey’s leadership as enemies. Such reports can later lead to action against people during passport checks when they enter or leave Turkey, including possible accusations of spreading terrorist propaganda, the report says.
The Berlin report did not name specific people allegedly targeted by MİT in the city.
Berlin intelligence chief Michael Fischer said in the report that the main foreign intelligence actors in the city are Russia, China, Iran and Turkey. Their methods include classic espionage, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns and sabotage, he said.
Berlin, as Germany’s capital and a major political, economic and scientific center, remains a target for foreign intelligence services, the report says.
The report comes against a broader European backdrop of allegations that Turkey has monitored, pressured or sought the return of people linked to the Gülen movement abroad since the failed coup.
In 2017 German prosecutors opened investigations into suspected Turkish intelligence activity targeting alleged Gülen supporters in Germany. German media and international outlets reported that police searched the homes of Turkish Muslim preachers suspected of spying on people linked to the movement, while Germany also rejected a Turkish request to collect intelligence on Gülen supporters.
The same year Swiss federal prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into suspected foreign espionage within the Turkish community in Switzerland following allegations that Turkish-linked actors had monitored government critics, including people associated with the Gülen movement.
In March 2018 six Turkish nationals linked to Gülen-affiliated schools were arrested in Kosovo and sent to Turkey. Kosovo’s then-prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, said he had not been informed of the operation and later dismissed his interior minister and intelligence chief over the deportations.
In September 2018 several Turkish teachers working at Gülen-linked schools in Moldova were taken by Moldovan authorities and transferred to Turkey. The European Court of Human Rights later found that Moldova had violated their rights, saying the transfer had bypassed legal safeguards.
Freedom House, in a report on transnational repression, said Turkey’s post-2016 campaign against perceived opponents abroad has included renditions, illegal deportations, passport cancellations, surveillance, harassment and pressure on relatives. The organization said the campaign has particularly targeted people accused by Ankara of links to the Gülen movement.
This article is republished from the Stockholm Center for Freedom.